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I don't hate videos. I think they're a good medium when the visual aspect is actually utilized. I'd rather learn how to build a table by watching someone do it than staring at even the best-written description of the same steps.
But the internet at present is replete, even overflowing, with stupid and useless videos; they're taking over every platform, so I don't anticipate that they're going away anytime soon. A 30-second Tiktok video would have taken me half that time to read, and I wouldn't have had to put up with all the obnoxiousness of a Tiktok video. It's a waste of time and bandwidth. I tolerate video essays; if there's a topic I really want to hear about, I pray that it's been captioned by a human being and reluctantly go in.
There are some video essayists who are really good at what they do, and they take advantage of the format to enhance what they're saying. In other words, they utilize their medium productively (see paragraph 1). The thing is: most video essayists and Youtubers are not like that. They read off of a script with absolutely no charisma or delivery skills, then slap that over some stock footage or a loop of the same movie trailer for 15 minutes (if you're lucky - sometimes this bullshit goes on upward of an hour).
If I can stomach this for more than a few minutes, all I can think about is how I'd much rather just read what they'd have to say. Or maybe I don't, because there are a lot of video essays with completely unacceptable writing quality that's just harder to notice when it's being read out loud. But at least I can skim a written essay and decide if it's something I want to spend more time with. I can also quickly skip around written content if the author spends several paragraphs on useless exposition.
Podcasts are even worse because I can't even rely on captions to alleviate my suffering, nor can I use visual cues or chapter markers to find the information I actually need. I despise podcasts. This is partly a personal problem because I just can't parse information if it's only delivered through audio... but it's also annoying that podcasters refuse to release transcripts.
You can have your videos and podcasts! Just give me fucking transcripts so I don't have to watch the same 15-second loop for 40 minutes!
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Hate mail to k [at] kalechips [dot] net
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