What is a Podcast?
Podcast!!
By now you have heard this word thrown around as it has become an extremely popular form of media. Celebrities and businesses and probably your friends have a podcast. But what is a podcast exactly?
The word podcast originated in 2004 from a combination of ‘ipod’ and ‘broadcast’. This term was coined by journalist Ben Hammersley.
A podcast is defined as a digital audio file made available on the internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series, new instalments of which can be received by subscribers automatically through really simple syndication (RSS feed).
The main characteristic of a podcast is that it is audio on demand. Listeners are able to access your podcast at any time which would be published on hosting platforms such as Afripods, Spotify, Apple podcasts or hosting websites. Similar to youtube, Listeners can follow or subscribe to your podcast and they will be served with the new episodes when they get published. While podcasting is originally audio, it has evolved into being consumed in video format today.
Podcast genres cover everything under the sun from comedy, tech talks, news, business, health, lifestyle, sports, movies and many more. There is something for everyone in the podcasting world.
Podcasts can also take many different forms as one size does not fit all. Some of the different formats include:
- Interview
- Story telling
- Cohosted
- Roundtable
- Documentary
The benefits of listening to podcasts;
- Time - You do not need to allocate podcast specific time as podcasts can be consumed while doing other activities such as commuting, working out or doing household chores. This way, you get to consume podcasts while living your daily life.
- Learning - you might want to learn but you hate reading. You can subscribe to shows that have topics of your interest, work on your self-development and get inspiration.
- Less screen time - podcasts are a great alternative to visual media. You will get entertainment without straining your eyes and at the same time, stimulating your imagination.
You can start listening to podcasts on platforms such as Afripods today. Afripods is building the largest library of African audio stories on the planet.