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Too simple of a narrative. At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer, and people are watching more YouTube videos on TVs than on mobile devices: http
by keiferski 1y ago
Too simple of a narrative. At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer, and people are watching more YouTube videos on TVs than on mobile devices:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2025/02/12/launched-20-years-ago-more-people-are-now-watching-youtube-on-tv/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2025/02/12/launched-...
So I think we're seeing more of a bifurcation: in-depth longform videos are becoming 30, 40, 60, even 90 minutes long, whereas anything shorter than 10 minutes is being compressed to 30-60 seconds. The most popular video creators are doing both; even MrBeast routinely has videos over 30 minutes long.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- quxbar 1y agoI won't even look at a youtube video essay about an obscure vintage RPG (my preferred form of guilty pleasure viewing) if it's under 20 minutes long.
- malignblade 1y agoGoing to need some recommendations
- aspenmayer 1y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQVdR8mJrds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQVdR8mJrds The Making of Vampire Survivors by noclip. Vintage inspired with the game choice, not straight vintage, but noclip is one of the best doing game documentaries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZmcbShMFNY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZmcbShMFNY The Story of Thief & Looking Glass Studios, also by noclip. As vintage as they come.
- Hovertruck 1y agoCheck out Majuular
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- p1necone 1y agoSeconding Majuular - if you like old PC rpgs (and new ones) he does great long form deep dives.
- bigyabai 1y agoSecond Wind is up and running with (2012's favorite) Yahtzee Crowshaw running the ship. An episode of Fully Ramblomatic runs a chipper >10min with barely a second to spare.
- trenchpilgrim 1y agoJwlar Mandaloregaming Josh Strife Plays The Sphere Hunter
- jmcgough 1y agoHighly recommend Dungeon Chill and KBash as well
- tmtvl 1y agoBobbin Threadbare.
- Night_Thastus 1y agoFor gaming: Joseph Anderson, NeverKnowsBest, SuperBunnyHop and MandaloreGaming are the ones that come to mind. They've uncovered so much about games that I never knew was there! :) I think some would recommend Matthewmatosis, Hbomberguy and Raycevick as well, I'm just less familiar with their work personally.
- coldpie 1y agoA fellow Basement Brothers viewer??
- xhrpost 1y agoI watched a 2 hour video on the history of computer RPGs, I think it was specific to DND, and found it captivating. Would also like to hear your recs.
- brokencode 1y agoWhat was it? I would also like a rec in this genre.
- xhrpost 1y agoThink I found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcGDQZjVfd4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcGDQZjVfd4
- echelon 1y agoI hate this bifurcation. I almost never want 2-hour documentary style videos, yet 1-minute teasers leave me even more dissatisfied. I want 5-minute to 15-minute videos. They can be either overviews or summaries that cover broad stretches or super focused essays that go deeply in depth on just a singular hyper-focused point. Long-form typically means opinionated and written for a lay audience. Filled with unnecessary pregnant pauses, fluff, and breathing room. Historians trying to craft a narrative. Stop wasting your viewer's precious time on b-roll or building a case. Smart audiences will trust you if you're succinct and factual. So take the heinously verbose documentary format, trim it down to just 10 to 15 minutes, and you're left with a fast-paced, frenetic, fully dehydrated, factual blow-by-blow. That's the sweet spot. Maximum information density.
- RankingMember 1y agoSome channels do both since people have different tastes/levels of free time. I think it's a good strategy, though I don't know how it plays out on the money side. For example, a YouTube channel about automotive fabrication and tuning ("Gingium" in this case) will release high-detail build videos in series, then when the project is over, add a "Building a [x, e.g. Supercharged Off-road Miata] in 10 Minutes" condensed video with all the key moments.
- Analemma_ 1y agoI understand the motivation but this mindset has failure modes of its own: I'm noticing an increasing number of longform YouTube essay channels adding tons of unnecessary padding to increase the runtime. They don't all do this-- to pick a random example, I think Defunctland videos are exactly as long as they need to be-- but a bunch of the smaller ones do. Ultimately there's no metric shortcut for actual quality.
- cogman10 1y agoThe other failure is that youtube wants quantity over quality. That incentivizes some bad behaviors. The hbomber video about plagerism is ultimately about that. Taking shortcuts, using 3rd parties (or now AI) to write scripts. It's all really negatively impacted the medium. AI in particular is like coke to lazy content makers. I've had to drop a few because it became clear that AI took the lead in writing.
- moduspol 1y agoI prefer my movie reviews to be longer in duration than the movies themselves.
- mystifyingpoi 1y agoMe too, but then it's no longer a review honestly. More like a breakdown or analysis.
- bitwize 1y agoHow many pizza rolls have you sent to that guy's webzone?
- deepfriedchokes 1y agoAre you an English Lit teacher?
- giancarlostoro 1y agoIn my case, YouTube has figured out that I love Pokemon videos where the streamer does really silly things with old Pokemon games (like resetting the emulator 9001 times to find a shiny in order to have a full on Shiny only pokedex, including the starter pokemon. In my case I don't care how long the videos are though.
- bo-tao 1y agoLol that sounds interesting, can you share the video?
- giancarlostoro 1y agoSure thing! I enjoy random Pokemon videos, watching the story of how the game was birthed by hobbyists is also fascinating. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcUUbGb77tY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcUUbGb77tY
- fennecbutt 1y agoEasier than soft resetting for real I guess. An ex used to be into that, it always seemed mind numbing to me but perhaps it's almost therapeutic for others.
- mid-kid 1y agoMost of the 20+ minute long videos are bound to be filled to the brim with filler and bullshit. I'm not asking for much, but please stop pretending your video game review is worth an hour of introductions, personal anecdotes, comedy sketches and 3 sponsor ads.
- crazygringo 1y agoCame here to say exactly this. People also listen to individual podcast episodes that clock in at 2 or 3 hours, and are hugely popular. Movies are getting longer at the cinema too -- what used to be 85 minutes is now 150 minutes. TikTok has not "won" at all. There's a place for content of all different lengths. The death of the attention span has been greatly exaggerated.
- jollyllama 1y agoI suppose if I have to share the earth/air/roads with the brainrot plebs, they might as well subsidize my ad-free consumption of long-form podcasts hosted on YouTube.
- forgotoldacc 1y agoWith movies, I feel like that's a bit of return to form. I know lots of older greats were around 2-3 hours in length, and I feel like things moved to 90 minutes basically overnight around the 2000s. Though I feel like a lot of long recent movies are more padded, while older 2+ hour movies felt like they had to cut content to make it a reasonable length.
- koolba 1y ago> The death of the attention span has been greatly exaggerated. Spend 15 minutes with the median 7-30 year old and you’ll think differently. Yes it’s not everybody. But it’s clearly most of them.
- rglullis 1y agoThese are definitely not the same. How many people are actually paying full attention to a 3 hour podcast? The majority will be listening to it while on their commute, or at the gym, or doing chores around the house. My wife (a civil engineer) has a podcast going in the background even while working. I asked her how she actually manages to pay attention to it and she says that it's mostly for the background noise. > Movies are getting longer at the cinema too -- what used to be 85 minutes is now 150 minutes. Because these movies are not made for the cinema anymore, but for streaming platforms, where people can consume in the same way they consume their podcasts.
- bogtog 1y ago> At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer, and people are watching more YouTube videos on TVs than on mobile devices I assume this is a replacement for TV/streaming. Cases were you previously would've wanted a 10-minute YouTube video are becoming cases where you watch 30-60 second ones. Cases where you previously wanted a 20+ minute Netlfix show are becoming ones where you turn to long YouTube videos
- Tenoke 1y agoExactly this tho with more than just 2 categories. You find more than ever optimized for the 60s category, that's true, and you do get longform silos - but those include one silo of channels that clock around 10m, as well as another in the hour+ podcasts case. The main new takeaway is that the shortform category is bigger and more important than previously imagined but hardly the sole winner.
- awjlogan 1y agoIt seems that the very long videos are a reaction against the very short clips. Usually the topics and density of information are not enough to consistently fill that amount of time, whereas it would be perfect in 10-30 mins. 60 secs: too short to convey much, 60 mins too long to convey too little.
- linhns 1y agoSadly, some of the best contents aer 5-10 minutes, I pick up some investing tips from those, although some longer ones can be 2x-ed or seeked to only view a chunk.
- jonbiggums22 1y agoI wish they'd give you more than 2x speed in the web player. Lots of videos seem to talk extra slowly to drag things out to the point 2x speed sounds like normal conversational speed.
- linhns 1y agoIt’s hard to talk that slow and still be able to keep the viewers attentive to the content. I often put on 1.5 or 1.75x as most since I’m not a natural English speaker, though that may be different for born speakers.
- Mistletoe 1y agoCan you share some of these YouTube investing tips?
- linhns 1y agoI pick some random suggested videos then do the opposite.
- nicce 1y agoMore you share, less value they provide!
- RankingMember 1y agoBuy Low Sell High! Please like and subscribe and tomorrow I'll tell you about index funds!
- trinix912 1y ago> So I think we're seeing more of a bifurcation: in-depth longform videos are becoming 30, 40, 60, even 90 minutes long, whereas anything shorter than 10 minutes is being compressed to 30-60 seconds. Could it be that the shorter videos that are now 30-60 seconds present the same information as they did when they were ~10min, just without all extra prologue, epilogue, and sponsor inserts? Wasn't one of the reasons they were ~10min in the first place simply to get monetized better?
- kulahan 1y agoI think we saw 7 minute videos become 10 minutes, not a 20x increase in length for super short-form ones.
- prophesi 1y agoIf your Youtube video is 8 minutes or longer (and your channel is monetized), you're able to place midroll ads every minute or so to maximize ad revenue. Typically Youtube only serves a very small fraction of these midroll ads to each user; usually every 10 - 15 minutes. So 16min+ has been the sweet spot. It's this ad incentive that has made long-form videos more popular on Youtube.
- eighthourblink 1y agoevery 10 - 15 minutes? Thats cute
- ryandrake 1y agoYea, I've seen some YouTube videos that display ~30 seconds worth of ads every 3.5 minutes of a hour long video. It's gotten quite ridiculous.
- nicce 1y agoYeah, I have unsubscribed/stopped viewing many specific creators because of this. They start cycling content and using innovative ways to make videos artificially longer. Some videos of have "what this video is about" and "Summary" sections which can be even half of the video length in total. Sponsored sections are getting longer. There are longer pauses and less editing. The list goes on.
- monadoid 1y agoI think HN is getting old - nobody has mentioned second screen viewing! imo, youtube videos are getting longer because everyone is just turning stuff on in the background while they're on their phones.
- esseph 1y agoMy wife and oldest kid who have ADHD are like that. My youngest, myself, and the middle aged kid never have anything on other than what we are actively paying attention to.
- ziml77 1y agoThat's what I do. But heck, that's what I've always done. In the 90 and 00s I would have the TV on while I was messing around on the PC, playing my Game Boy, or heck even while doing homework.
- Funes- 1y ago>At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer, and people are watching more YouTube videos on TVs than on mobile devices I wager most people are putting those on while having a meal and using their phones or tablets at the same time. Moreover, 99% of the most watched content on YouTube is utter garbage that would make the average reality show on TV twenty years ago look like The Godfather in comparison. Gossippy, clickbait videos made to induce an immediate dopamine dump and be used as background noise aren't "in-depth" anything. I don't think people are sitting in front of a TV watching an hour-long, non-sponsored, ad-free interview with Margerite Duras and doing nothing else concurrently, for instance. On top of all that, this trend of making longer videos comes mostly from an attempt to increase ad revenue. Let's not be fooled here.
- password54321 1y agoYou haven't actually contradicted anything in the article. People can have low attention spans and watch a 30 minute MrBeast video of people shouting. People can have YouTube running on their TV while still being on their phone. Your narrative isn't any less "simple" or any better backed up.
- gchamonlive 1y agoYeah that's kinda like pushing the narrative of "the end of history" just for social networks which I think is very flawed. We can't underestimate the influence the medium has on thought, but I think we aren't in a dystopian monopoly of social interactions just yet.
- testdelacc1 1y agoI’m addicted to RealLifeLore on YouTube. Each video is 30-40 minutes long. There’s really a quality you can get only with length.
- kulahan 1y agoWorth mentioning that literally any video under 60 seconds is forced to be a short, which is that stupid type of YouTube video where they remove a bunch of controls and make the overall experience miserable. So maybe that’s pushing longer-form content as well. Some people making 30 second videos moves to 90 second ones to avoid the bad format, this crowds the format and pushes others up as well? Totally talking out of my ass here.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- CM30 1y agoFortunately, a video does need to have a vertical screen resolution to be counted as a short. So landscape/widescreen videos don't seem to be affected there. But this can definitely trip people up, especially now the maximum length of a YouTube short is 3 minutes instead of 1. If you recorded a 3 minute video on a phone (or other random vertical screen device like a Game Boy/DS/3DS), YouTube will classify it as a short and there's basically nothing you can do about it.
- 0x00cl 1y agoYouTube has been pushing for longer videos for a while now. I believe it has to do with getting more money for ads. I remember YouTube updated their guidelines suggesting creators to create longer videos (10+ minutes for better monetization) I couldn't find a source (other than my memory) though, the earliest I could find is a reddit post from 2016 https://www.reddit.com/r/PartneredYoutube/comments/4v6bmy/why_so_many_youtubers_are_making_their_videos/ https://www.reddit.com/r/PartneredYoutube/comments/4v6bmy/wh...
- rcxdude 1y agoMore or less there was a shift in how Youtube allocated ad revenue, where instead of paying per view on any video over 10 minutes, they pay based on watch time alone (which makes sense with how they added mid-roll ads instead of just pre-roll ads). This incentivized longer videos, or at least didn't penalize them, but then more recently there was another shift in their recommendation algorithm to push these videos harder (I suspect because they found it increased watch time and thus ad impressions overall), and that really pushed the long-form videos into the mainstream.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Jordan-117 1y agoI've noticed that the YouTube app on smart TVs typically recommends 10-30 minute videos -- probably a combination of people leaving things on in the background or seeking "mealtime videos" they can watch while they eat.
- Animats 1y ago> At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer... That may be a consequence of the monetization algorithm. It allows more time for ads. The format of too many Youtube videos now is - Useless intro - Long recap of historical info to allow space for ads - Actual new content - Filler - Conclusion Those are the ones that aren't just some neckbeard with earphones and a big microphone.
- jagaerglad 1y agoPerfect, longer time to scroll tiktok while the TV is on in the background
- nitwit005 1y agoAlso, not everything is a "typical" video. Plenty of people are using YouTube as a music player, or a way to watch feature films.
- roody15 1y agoThis checks out. I find myself watching more youtube videos anywhere from WW2 restored footage, to Bloodborne and Elden Ring lore. There is some great documentary style content on youtube that just isn't on major streaming services. Well at least that I can find.
- fennecbutt 1y agoYes, but who.