Many people are now talking about the “death of the ad-supported internet model,” and I can only say that it can’t come quickly enough.
The main reason why it all switched to ad-supported is the massive costs of storing and streaming all that high-definition video. And for what? So I can see every pore on Joe Rogan’s face while he sits in front of the mic and talks for 3 hours?
Or so that some video game dweeb can read his essay about why an obscure JRPG is the height of postmodern art over 30 minutes of game footage. Or all the channels trying to imitate Kurzgesagt with shitty animation and information they gathered from browsing Wikipedia.
Face it. Most of this video is unnecessary. 99.9% of all possible information can be relayed through text, pictures, and the occasional sound file.
Furthermore, most video content creators are unnecessary too. I can just read about a laptop’s specs and the reviewer’s experience with it. I don’t need LinusTechTips to stare at me with his reptilian eyes while he destroys the inferior product with an oversized novelty mallet.
Most of what’s on YouTube and other video-heavy social sites is not insightful, not creative, not informative, not fun, not sexy, and honestly shouldn’t exist at all.
Totally agree. Video has really gotten out of hand.
Personally, I hate how so much instructional material (of any kind) is posted in the form of YouTube videos. The same information could be posted in a far more compact and succinct form as a combination of text and still images. I can read far faster than most of these video “instructors” are able to convey useful facts. Plus, with a text, I can skip forward or back, and re-read key sections easily, without having to use a damn seek bar.
Also, does it not occur to these video posters that, by posting everything to YouTube, you’re putting all of your eggs in the same basket? YouTube may use multiple huge datacenters around the world, but how much of that video data is actually backed up? If a given datacenter is destroyed by a disaster, it would take a significant chunk of YouTube content with it. I’d much rather have the same information (in text form) spread across multiple, unrelated websites scattered around the world.
Software training videos are the absolute worst of the bunch. Watching videos while working with the software is a pain in the ass and I absolutely hate watching the same parts over and over again if something doesn’t make sense. Give me a user’s manual any day. They can shove their videos.
Personally, I like the car repair videos on YouTube. I’ve saved hundreds on repairs, and while it wasn’t always as easy as the video would make it seem (don’t try to drop a steering column by yourself, if you can help it), I feel that the videos were far more helpful than text and pictures.
I agree to a point. In many cases, text would suffice for instruction.
Certain topics of instruction benefit from well done video, though. Like, installing a lift kit. Yeah you could draw diagrams or use photos but video can give more spatial context of what fits where and what it all looks like from different angles. If it’s done properly.
The problem is, it’s so easy to make terrible instructional videos that don’t show you any more context or information than a bad picture while also taking up more of your time to determine it is a bad video.
My biggest pet peeve is that the creators have an incentive (or think they do) to yap on about introductory or irrelevant things for a ridiculous amount of time before getting to the point of the video, the stuff I’m there to watch. It drives me absolutely bonkers. Any time I find a video that is telling me how to do a thing within 15 seconds I heap praise on them in the comments. It doesn’t happen often.