7 ms·

> But many of the providers of "content" know they have little to provide, so they drag it out in video form, saving the actual information for the last 10% of

> But many of the providers of "content" know they have little to provide, so they drag it out in video form, saving the actual information for the last 10% of the video (if ever!) 0:00 - 00:10 Useless video animation 00:10-2:00 "Hey guys welcome to my channel. Make sure to like and subscribe and let me know how I'm doing in the comments. Also make sure to check out [sponsor] and use coupon code [code] for 10% off" 2:00-5:00 Useless personal story about why creator is making the video 5:00-10:00 Useless history of the subject matter 10:00-11:00 The actual useful content

dictum 9y ago
> 0:00 - 00:10 Useless video animation I'm happy when it's only useless. It's often useless and loud.
- harshreality 9y ago
  That's because it's an unconditioned stimulus (classical conditioning theory). If you repeatedly watch their videos, and like them, you'll start to associate their intro animation with the content you like, and you'll like the intro animation. Later, you'll even come up with post-rationalizations for why it's not quite so loud or useless.
  - blunte 9y ago
    Unless of course you're so turned off by the intro that you bail out before giving their content a chance.
  - dredmorbius 9y ago
    The TED intro (standard series) bmakes me gag now Ten seconds. Mind, mobile YT doesn't have keyboard sip, but mpsyt does.
kfriede 9y ago
I often feel this way about podcasts. Many great podcasts have a 0:30 intro, 1:30 of ads then 08:00 of random babble before getting into 5:00 of the meat of the podcast. The most recent one I can think of is 99% Invisible, though they're not even close to the only ones that do it.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- tomjen3 9y ago
  There are podcasts like that, but I admit I am strange because all my favourite podcasts are multiple hours long, getting really deep into the content. Jocos podcasts, which doesn't really have ads other than for his own products, fx are often more than 3 hours, Dan Carlins Hardcore History is typically that long per episode, but often they are also part of a series, like his 5 episodes on the first world war (probably about 20 hours).
  - vog 9y ago
    This. Exactly this. I don't get why anyone would listen to a podcast with ads and/or bad information density. I mean, the whole point (and value) of podcasts is to remove the private radio station crap, not to replicate it. BTW, the German podcast scene is a quite positive example of the directions podcasts can go.
    - tomjen3 9y ago
      Do you mean podcasts in German or by Germans? If the latter, any good suggestions?
      - sien 9y ago
        Omega Tau - a Science and Engineering Podcast is fantastic: http://omegataupodcast.net/ http://omegataupodcast.net/ Long episodes, such as 2 hours interviewing a physicist at ITER are really well done.
        vog 9y ago
        And of course: (all German language) - CRE Technik, Kultur, Gesellschaft https://cre.fm/ https://cre.fm/ - Deutschlandfunk Nova - Eine Stunde History https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/eine-stunde-history https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/eine-stunde-history - Methodisch Inkorrekt http://minkorrekt.de/ http://minkorrekt.de/ - Raumzeit https://raumzeit-podcast.de/ https://raumzeit-podcast.de/ - Logbuch Netzpolitik https://logbuch-netzpolitik.de/ https://logbuch-netzpolitik.de/ (prefer the episodes where they have guests)
amiga-workbench 9y ago
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-wadsworth-constant http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-wadsworth-constant
insulanus 9y ago
You forgot the trailer asking you to subscribe, with some clickable areas, and optional "bonus content at the end" :) Makes it harder to estimate where the information in the video is.
dredmorbius 9y ago
Trick: Skip straight to halfway. If the meat is being covered, roll back, else forward. Binary search works well.
Semaphor 9y ago
You also forgot the slow unboxing if it's a product review. I mean I guess some people like that, but for me, it's just another point in favor of text.
- CRConrad 9y ago
  The whole "unboxing" hype, as if that were a thing. "Now let's enjoy getting this [thing] out of its packaging!" -- as if that were an essential part of the enjoyment of [thing]. It's just a prerequisite to the actual use and enjoyment of [thing], because packaging is a prerequisite of transport, storage and sales. Who the heck came up with the silly idea that this is an event in itself? And above all, why did anyone -- or, worse, seemingly everyone -- fall for it?!? Stop the darn lunacy now.
throw2016 9y ago
There was always a lot of high quality content on the web, created and shared not with the intent of making money. This still exists but is crowded out by people incentivized to make content to monetize it ie the old publishing model. This now makes up the bulk of 'content' and is heavily monetized and driven by monetization where the 'content creators' have a more intimate relationship with advertisers and platforms to essentially sell out their audience ie back to the old media model of 'influencers'. The content is also derivative and repetitive but easier to access and consume. Thanks to the monetization the presentation and production values are higher. There is definitely some decent content produced by this model but it becomes harder and harder to find. There is a certain desperation to capitalism that infects everything. Sell, sell, sell, make money, forget everything else unless it affects your ability to make money, and it becomes the primary driver.
- Smoosh 9y ago
  > There is a certain desperation to capitalism that infects everything I just quoted you on twitter as I think that expresses very well how I feel. Underlying capitalism is the thought that if you fail you'll starve. But (and bringing this back to the original topic) the businesses behind the web have gone even further. It's not sufficient to make money, you must make ALL the money you can ALL of the time. This leads to the behaviour as discussed in the article - no regard for how you are treating your customers/fellow human beings, just get rich, and by winning you justify your shitty actions. This is probably nothing new, robber barons have been around for a long time, but it now seems to be standard practice for all businesses, especially web-based ones who don't directly deal with people.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  This is what the bulk of Meditations on Moloch[0] is about - under competitive pressure, if you can forgo a value in order to get ahead, you outcompete those not willing to do so. Iterate over it, and you can see how competition gradually throws all values under the bus, until all that remains is the money-making core. (I like to sometimes phrase it as "the market optimizes for creating the most useless thing that you can still trick people into buying".) -- [0] - http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/

dictum 9y ago

> 0:00 - 00:10 Useless video animation I'm happy when it's only useless. It's often useless and loud.

harshreality 9y ago
That's because it's an unconditioned stimulus (classical conditioning theory). If you repeatedly watch their videos, and like them, you'll start to associate their intro animation with the content you like, and you'll like the intro animation. Later, you'll even come up with post-rationalizations for why it's not quite so loud or useless.
- blunte 9y ago
  Unless of course you're so turned off by the intro that you bail out before giving their content a chance.
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  The TED intro (standard series) bmakes me gag now Ten seconds. Mind, mobile YT doesn't have keyboard sip, but mpsyt does.

kfriede 9y ago

I often feel this way about podcasts. Many great podcasts have a 0:30 intro, 1:30 of ads then 08:00 of random babble before getting into 5:00 of the meat of the podcast. The most recent one I can think of is 99% Invisible, though they're not even close to the only ones that do it.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
tomjen3 9y ago
There are podcasts like that, but I admit I am strange because all my favourite podcasts are multiple hours long, getting really deep into the content. Jocos podcasts, which doesn't really have ads other than for his own products, fx are often more than 3 hours, Dan Carlins Hardcore History is typically that long per episode, but often they are also part of a series, like his 5 episodes on the first world war (probably about 20 hours).
- vog 9y ago
  This. Exactly this. I don't get why anyone would listen to a podcast with ads and/or bad information density. I mean, the whole point (and value) of podcasts is to remove the private radio station crap, not to replicate it. BTW, the German podcast scene is a quite positive example of the directions podcasts can go.
  - tomjen3 9y ago
    Do you mean podcasts in German or by Germans? If the latter, any good suggestions?
    - sien 9y ago
      Omega Tau - a Science and Engineering Podcast is fantastic: http://omegataupodcast.net/ http://omegataupodcast.net/ Long episodes, such as 2 hours interviewing a physicist at ITER are really well done.
      - vog 9y ago
        And of course: (all German language) - CRE Technik, Kultur, Gesellschaft https://cre.fm/ https://cre.fm/ - Deutschlandfunk Nova - Eine Stunde History https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/eine-stunde-history https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/eine-stunde-history - Methodisch Inkorrekt http://minkorrekt.de/ http://minkorrekt.de/ - Raumzeit https://raumzeit-podcast.de/ https://raumzeit-podcast.de/ - Logbuch Netzpolitik https://logbuch-netzpolitik.de/ https://logbuch-netzpolitik.de/ (prefer the episodes where they have guests)

amiga-workbench 9y ago

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-wadsworth-constant http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-wadsworth-constant

insulanus 9y ago

You forgot the trailer asking you to subscribe, with some clickable areas, and optional "bonus content at the end" :) Makes it harder to estimate where the information in the video is.

dredmorbius 9y ago

Trick: Skip straight to halfway. If the meat is being covered, roll back, else forward. Binary search works well.

Semaphor 9y ago

You also forgot the slow unboxing if it's a product review. I mean I guess some people like that, but for me, it's just another point in favor of text.

CRConrad 9y ago
The whole "unboxing" hype, as if that were a thing. "Now let's enjoy getting this [thing] out of its packaging!" -- as if that were an essential part of the enjoyment of [thing]. It's just a prerequisite to the actual use and enjoyment of [thing], because packaging is a prerequisite of transport, storage and sales. Who the heck came up with the silly idea that this is an event in itself? And above all, why did anyone -- or, worse, seemingly everyone -- fall for it?!? Stop the darn lunacy now.

throw2016 9y ago

There was always a lot of high quality content on the web, created and shared not with the intent of making money. This still exists but is crowded out by people incentivized to make content to monetize it ie the old publishing model. This now makes up the bulk of 'content' and is heavily monetized and driven by monetization where the 'content creators' have a more intimate relationship with advertisers and platforms to essentially sell out their audience ie back to the old media model of 'influencers'. The content is also derivative and repetitive but easier to access and consume. Thanks to the monetization the presentation and production values are higher. There is definitely some decent content produced by this model but it becomes harder and harder to find. There is a certain desperation to capitalism that infects everything. Sell, sell, sell, make money, forget everything else unless it affects your ability to make money, and it becomes the primary driver.

Smoosh 9y ago
> There is a certain desperation to capitalism that infects everything I just quoted you on twitter as I think that expresses very well how I feel. Underlying capitalism is the thought that if you fail you'll starve. But (and bringing this back to the original topic) the businesses behind the web have gone even further. It's not sufficient to make money, you must make ALL the money you can ALL of the time. This leads to the behaviour as discussed in the article - no regard for how you are treating your customers/fellow human beings, just get rich, and by winning you justify your shitty actions. This is probably nothing new, robber barons have been around for a long time, but it now seems to be standard practice for all businesses, especially web-based ones who don't directly deal with people.
TeMPOraL 9y ago
This is what the bulk of Meditations on Moloch[0] is about - under competitive pressure, if you can forgo a value in order to get ahead, you outcompete those not willing to do so. Iterate over it, and you can see how competition gradually throws all values under the bus, until all that remains is the money-making core. (I like to sometimes phrase it as "the market optimizes for creating the most useless thing that you can still trick people into buying".) -- [0] - http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/