3 ms·

IMO it's because literacy rates are in the toilet.

by JohnMakin 3y ago

bobbylarrybobby 3y ago
Is it the cause or the effect?
- JohnMakin 3y ago
  Obviously not qualified to answer this but I think the drop in literacy is happened quite a while after youtube or even online video being a thing. I am a strong reader and get highly annoyed spending 5 minutes watching a video on a topic where I could get my answer in 10 seconds or less reading about it - I think most strong readers would feel the same. I see absolutely no benefit to getting information from a video (plus it’s hard to refer back to) unless you are not great at reading.
tiptup300 3y ago
disagree, I read a ton of news, have for a while I love long form video essays. The longer the better. Where for a off the cuff article I find I'm much less likely to read the whole thing unless it's really piqued my interest. Note that I'm not an especially fast reader.
AlexAndScripts 3y ago
I'm 18. I suspect this is related to attention span: Videos capture your attention far better and are more addictive. Additionally, while people can read, they're worryingly slow and they are so out of practice that the very act of extended reading tires them out - even if the subject itself is trivial. I think my reading speed is slightly above average among adults, and I can read text at my normal speed three times in the time it takes my peers to read it once. That's with brain damage. These are very intelligent people, it's just that my generation is moving away from reading. I've had discussions with friends who think academic papers should be replaced with videos. They find writing so time consuming and difficult that they think that an informative, animated video could be made with the same amount of effort as an academic paper. They also say that they're frequently distracted from the content due to the effort of reading itself. I've been surprised by the extent to which people use "person talks to camera" style videos for revision and re-learning, rather than reading condensed notes. They are significantly slower, you can't scan through until you find something you're unfamiliar with, and they're just plain dull. Despite that, they're one of the most popular ways to revise. Perhaps it's because you can zone out of videos, convincing yourself that you're learning without actively engaging with the content. Again, I don't mean 3b1b style animated lectures, I mean someone essentially paraphrasing the textbook to the camera. An similar phenomenon that also worries me is the lack of distinction between how people speak and how people write, and not in the "use straightforward language, not purple prose" way. People comma-splice entire paragraphs (if they use paragraphs at all) in a stream of consciousness rather than organising their thoughts.
- hulitu 3y ago
  > Videos capture your attention far better and are more addictive It really depends on the video. A bad porn movie "captures your attention far better" than a corporate training video.

IMO it's because literacy rates are in the toilet.

bobbylarrybobby 3y ago

Is it the cause or the effect?

JohnMakin 3y ago
Obviously not qualified to answer this but I think the drop in literacy is happened quite a while after youtube or even online video being a thing. I am a strong reader and get highly annoyed spending 5 minutes watching a video on a topic where I could get my answer in 10 seconds or less reading about it - I think most strong readers would feel the same. I see absolutely no benefit to getting information from a video (plus it’s hard to refer back to) unless you are not great at reading.

tiptup300 3y ago

disagree, I read a ton of news, have for a while I love long form video essays. The longer the better. Where for a off the cuff article I find I'm much less likely to read the whole thing unless it's really piqued my interest. Note that I'm not an especially fast reader.

AlexAndScripts 3y ago

I'm 18. I suspect this is related to attention span: Videos capture your attention far better and are more addictive. Additionally, while people can read, they're worryingly slow and they are so out of practice that the very act of extended reading tires them out - even if the subject itself is trivial. I think my reading speed is slightly above average among adults, and I can read text at my normal speed three times in the time it takes my peers to read it once. That's with brain damage. These are very intelligent people, it's just that my generation is moving away from reading. I've had discussions with friends who think academic papers should be replaced with videos. They find writing so time consuming and difficult that they think that an informative, animated video could be made with the same amount of effort as an academic paper. They also say that they're frequently distracted from the content due to the effort of reading itself. I've been surprised by the extent to which people use "person talks to camera" style videos for revision and re-learning, rather than reading condensed notes. They are significantly slower, you can't scan through until you find something you're unfamiliar with, and they're just plain dull. Despite that, they're one of the most popular ways to revise. Perhaps it's because you can zone out of videos, convincing yourself that you're learning without actively engaging with the content. Again, I don't mean 3b1b style animated lectures, I mean someone essentially paraphrasing the textbook to the camera. An similar phenomenon that also worries me is the lack of distinction between how people speak and how people write, and not in the "use straightforward language, not purple prose" way. People comma-splice entire paragraphs (if they use paragraphs at all) in a stream of consciousness rather than organising their thoughts.

hulitu 3y ago
> Videos capture your attention far better and are more addictive It really depends on the video. A bad porn movie "captures your attention far better" than a corporate training video.