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Speaking as someone who works for a site who produces a lot of video content and is trending more that way I can give you a simple reason why. People consume i

Speaking as someone who works for a site who produces a lot of video content and is trending more that way I can give you a simple reason why. People consume it more. They stay on the site longer, they tend to watch more videos than read articles, and they share videos more. Now obviously the videos still need to be good content but the reason you’re seeing more video content is not because of some nefarious scheme: it’s because content producers see better user engagement with it.

Filligree 9y ago
Well, of course people stay longer in the site. You're forcing us to, since skimming and searching is no longer an option. It's a worse experience, and I avoid that sort of site if at all possible.
- abritinthebay 9y ago
  Yes, I know you may think that that but that's not based on the numbers I'm afraid. It can be true for you of course. But if so you're an outlier. Long story short - we see people actively engage with video content more (ie - they share it, they comment on it, they respond to it more positively, etc etc). The numbers don't lie, and they're pretty clear. Article-based/written content isn't going anywhere, but it's not the only delivery stream anymore. It hasn't been for years really but it was contained in YouTube for the most part. But social videos (instagram, twitter, etc) really blew the lid off that and now videos are becoming a whole new and different category of content. Now obviously sites that just do a 5 minute video full of junk instead of a 3 paragraph article are just that - junk. But that's why I said the video content still needs to be good content. Sites that don't do that deserve to be ignored - and not all sites are good at producing video content. I work at Bleacher Report and we very specifically craft our videos to be more than what you're describing (they respect the medium and don't replace articles at all). But we're still producing more and more videos because they are extremely popular.
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    Are you giving people a real choice, though? And to what extent are they just hooked on your eye candy?
    - abritinthebay 9y ago
      Yes, absolutely we are: videos don’t replace written content. We produce as much (or more) written content as before. They’re complementary content - doing things in a different medium that wouldn’t be as effective (or possible) in written form. That’s resulting in more positive user engagement and social activity. More choice in fact.

Filligree 9y ago

Well, of course people stay longer in the site. You're forcing us to, since skimming and searching is no longer an option. It's a worse experience, and I avoid that sort of site if at all possible.

abritinthebay 9y ago
Yes, I know you may think that that but that's not based on the numbers I'm afraid. It can be true for you of course. But if so you're an outlier. Long story short - we see people actively engage with video content more (ie - they share it, they comment on it, they respond to it more positively, etc etc). The numbers don't lie, and they're pretty clear. Article-based/written content isn't going anywhere, but it's not the only delivery stream anymore. It hasn't been for years really but it was contained in YouTube for the most part. But social videos (instagram, twitter, etc) really blew the lid off that and now videos are becoming a whole new and different category of content. Now obviously sites that just do a 5 minute video full of junk instead of a 3 paragraph article are just that - junk. But that's why I said the video content still needs to be good content. Sites that don't do that deserve to be ignored - and not all sites are good at producing video content. I work at Bleacher Report and we very specifically craft our videos to be more than what you're describing (they respect the medium and don't replace articles at all). But we're still producing more and more videos because they are extremely popular.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  Are you giving people a real choice, though? And to what extent are they just hooked on your eye candy?
  - abritinthebay 9y ago
    Yes, absolutely we are: videos don’t replace written content. We produce as much (or more) written content as before. They’re complementary content - doing things in a different medium that wouldn’t be as effective (or possible) in written form. That’s resulting in more positive user engagement and social activity. More choice in fact.