Welcome to this week’s edition of Monday Malice, where I opine and curmudge. (Is “curmudge” a verb? It should be.) Surprisingly, there’s only one thing I hate about video.
What I hate about it is that…it’s VIDEO. And that just about sums it up. I’m just not a “video” person, which may seem odd if you consider that a good chunk of my professional career has been in media measurement, much of which was in television measurement. Don’t get me wrong; I like tv shows (although even calling it “tv” is rapidly becoming an anachronism), and there are movies I’d gladly watch over and over again (Steel Magnolias, anyone?).
The Mad Rush to Video
What I specifically dislike is our mad rush to learn everything by watching a video. Need to set up a blog? Watch this video! Having trouble with trigonometry? Here’s a video!
Bah! Everyone seems to have forgotten that there are seven styles of learning. Not one, SEVEN. Personally, I’m a weird mix of three: Aural/Verbal/Logical. I’m much more likely to remember things I hear; I learn best from written documents; I’ve definitely got a logical mind and enjoy chess and brainteasers immensely.
What I do not enjoy, however, is learning by watching a video. Really, I cannot understand how anyone’s brain works that way. Here’s how I learn to do something new:
- Read the instructions.
- Mark/highlight/make note of certain things in the text.
- Try it myself, with the instructions nearby for reference.
Go Ahead, Force Me
In a few instances, I’ve been forced to learn to do something new by watching a video because written instructions were unavailable (and even “written” is becoming anachronistic!). But you get the idea. And in those cases, I had to pause, rewind (another anachronism!), stop, play, pause…ad nauseum. I swear it takes me twice as long to master something that I had to watch as opposed to reading about. Plus, where’s my document to refer back to in case I forget? Oh, right! I have to go watch the video again. Bah!
I mean no offense (mostly) to the apparently 98% of the population that prefers watching to reading, but yes I will judge you. I also know, however, that soon, the old “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” will apply to me, since every.single.thing I read about where the world is going waxes absolutely poetic about “the power of video.” Really, I see headlines like this every day:
- “Video increases engagement by 11,000 percent!”
- “Want more fans? Offer videos!”
- “Why video is the #1 way to grow your online presence”
- “The only people who will survive the rapture are those watching instructional videos”
Adapt or Die
Again, BAH. But I’m adaptable! I can totally get with the program! To that end, I promptly procured a “Coach Dawne” YouTube channel the day I started this blog. It’s out there now – you can find it under my real name, Dawne Richards. But I won’t bother providing the link because at this moment (9/6/18), the sum total of Coach Dawne YouTube videos is…ZERO. That’s also partly because I’m allergic to money.
But I’m working on it! Really! Even though I hate the sound of my voice on tape (anachronism!), the camera adds 50 5 pounds, a random pet or child will no doubt come barreling into the room on full scream/bark alert mid-recording, I will persist! I will prevail! And I will no longer have an empty YouTube channel!
Soon. Because I’ve got goals. My current goal is to emulate “The 19-year-old self-made millionaire”; you can check out his story on BBC London News (and yes, it’s a video), begins with “Getting most teenagers out of bed in the morning might be a struggle…”
That’s it! I’ll start a different YouTube channel, one where I adopt the persona of a surly teenager…I’ll get back to you.⧉
What about you? Are you a video fan or foe, or somewhere in between? Leave a comment and let me know!
I absolutely totally agree with you!
My personal belief is that the video hype was generated deliberately by Facebook because Google was making money with YouTube and they wanted to be in on it. In spite of their own findings that Video has the least ‘Engagement’ – yes a million (billion?) people watch it – but there is no discussion, no one talks to each other – just click Like and move along, will you.
By the way – that surly teenager persona is coming along nicely!
David
Thanks for commenting, and those are really good points, David! Yes, it’s hard to be engaged and interactive when you’re just watching a video. And I’m glad the surly teenager persona is coming through nicely. 😉 – Coach Dawne
If it’s for teaching me how to do something, I usually don’t mind video. Sometimes it helps to be able to see what the instructor is talking about, and sometimes a moving picture is better than a still.
When it comes to a blog (such as the ones I’ve read here on your page), an article, a news story, an opinion piece, etc., I’d much rather read. First, I read a LOT faster than most people talk. Plus, when people start to get repetitive (as many do, trying to keep my attention for longer to get more ad impressions or whatever), I like to be able to skim through to the next interesting bit. That’s harder to do with video because you actually miss stuff. Perhaps if video could be fast-forwarded like we used to do with a cassette tape, where we pressed FF/Play together and heard a speeded-up version, I wouldn’t mind as much. Also, I don’t keep headphones with me, and often I’m reading something in a place where I couldn’t or wouldn’t want to have audio playing.
Just my 2¢. Since you asked.
Thank you for commenting, and yes – fast-forward might do it! It is harder to do with video because I’m always afraid to miss a key piece of information. Ideally there would be video and the full text, so we could choose. I don’t keep headphones with me either, and we’re not alone in that, which is why we’re starting to see more subtitled videos, so that you can read along. I DO occasionally enjoy watching video interviews, because being able to see and hear people’s facial expressions adds emphasis to what they are saying, in a way that text doesn’t.Thanks again and have a great day! – Coach Dawne.
Good point about the headphones
That IS a good point; I never think about having headphones with me. – Coach Dawne