First came blogging, which started as a hobby for a handful of individuals and is now widespread among companies and professional communicators. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and Sun Microsystems President & CEO Jonathan Schwartz are but two examples of corporate bloggers, and most newspapers have also launched into the blogsphere.

Next came podcasting, which now can be seen supplementing news releases and broadcasts and is emerging quickly as a full-blown corporate communications tool.

The trend's curve is pretty clear. First, technology catches on with the public. Then, businesses pick it up. A quick glance around today’s tech landscape leaves me thinking that another new tool is getting ready to move into the corporate space: Web-based video.

Sites like YouTube put video at consumers's fingertips and made it easy to post do-it-yourself video clips on the Web. Until recently, however, getting Web video up to corporate standards was harder and more expensive. That's all changing.

A recent Wall Street Journal article explains:

Video places special demands on users. Moving images create large data files, so an array of formats have been developed to compress, store and send video around the Internet. Specialized software is needed to convert video into a desired format and to let computer users play the images. YouTube, for example, converts videos into a format that helps users play clips in their Web browsers, rather than using specialized media-player software.

Now, the Journal reports, a host of companies such as FeedRoom Inc., Reflect Systems Inc. and VitalStream Inc. have emerged to offer video services and the technology to produce high-caliber Web video.

And a number of large corporations, including Wal-Mart, General Motors and Monsanto, have already jumped on the video bandwagon. Monsanto, for example, has posted video testimonials of farmers around the world using its products.

Clearly, these companies recognize the power of video as a communications tool. It fosters a strong connection between communicators and their audiences, and its message is driven home by the sense of personal contact it offers. Armand Musey, president of the investment bank Near Earth LLC, put it nicely in Episode 6 of Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer:

"Audio is better than print, and video is better than audio."

I agree.