[koreth1]

> That people like video formats isn't really surprising to me since it's everywhere, but I still don't fully understand the appeal.

Me either, but I have a hunch about why.

Are you a fast reader?

I am, at least compared to the population at large. And one of the reasons I can't stand video as a format for learning about coding topics is that it is so frustratingly slow compared to my reading speed. To get anywhere close, I have to crank the playback speed up so high that I start having trouble understanding what the presenter is saying. That's on top of other things like poor searchability and no way to copy-paste code snippets.

The decline of reading skills, at least in the US, is pretty well-documented. And my hunch is that for the increasingly large number of people coming into the industry who don't read quickly or well, the efficiency of learning from videos is closer to parity with text. What's more, I suspect there's high correlation between lower reading skills and dislike of the act of reading, so videos are a way to avoid having to do something unpleasant.

I have no solid evidence to back any of this up, but it seems at least as plausible to me as any other explanations I've run across.

[makingstuffs]

That’s a really interesting take. I say that as I’m the opposite — a slow reader — and I, too, cannot stand learning via video.

I’m by no means a weak reader, I love reading and do so often. I just find myself re-reading complex sections to ensure that I understand 100%.

I also like to be able to read something and then follow it on a train of thought. For example, if a post/article says that X causes Y because of Z I want to find out why Z causes it. What causes Z to be etc.

With a video I find this sort of learning to be inefficient and less effective while also making the whole experience a bit rigid. I also find that videos tend to leave out less glamorous details as they don’t video well if that makes sense

[rambambram]

I'm also a slow-reader by your standards, re-reading to me is part of the learning process. Going over text with your eyes is not reading, let alone learning.

I think your dislike of video over text is because you're a quick learner. Like you said, going on a tangent and researching some word or sentence or statement makes you a thorough learner I think. Eventually you have a quicker and bigger grasp of the subject at hand, which is the whole point if you ask me.

[makingstuffs]

Thanks mate! I think I consider myself a slow reader as I’ve grown up with my mother and sister who both read at some ungodly pace. They’ll finish 5 books for every one which I finish.

I do agree with the thorough learner aspect. I think having come from physical engineering backgrounds helps a lot with that.

When studying aerospace, for example, there was a lot of ‘but why’ which usually ended up leading to ‘natural phenomenon’ after abstracting far enough.

[Swizec]

Alternatively: you can listen to audio while commuting or driving or cleaning or working out. I love audio for higher level things and to get an overview of the topic. Then text to dive into the details.

[throwaway2037]

Another big driver to move from text to video: It is easier to monetise video via YouTube compared to a blog. People with millions of subscriptions on YouTube aren't creating FE learning material out of the goodness of their hearts; it is a big business. Also, video is almost always lower information density compared to text, so it is easier for your net to capture more customers.

[hsuduebc2]

And you can't just search in it. It's truly trashy format for anything other that presentation or lecture. For simple information sharing it's horrible.

[Swizec]

We millenials ruined the doorbell industry by texting “here”. (Always connected)

Gen Z just sends you a picture of your door. (Mobile broadband)

What we perceive as the best way is often just driven by the technology available when we learned how to operate in the world.

[chairmansteve]

I think you nailed it.

Another example of advertising destroying the world.

[ricardobeat]

It can be quite difficult to follow programming topics over audio only, so it's not interchangeable with video in this case.

[wing-_-nuts]

I have a fairly fast reading speed, but I mostly consume my non fic (not technical) books in audio format.

Why? Attention span. If someone is reading to me, I tend to get 'pushed along' and it makes it easy to slog through a non fiction book that really could have been a pamphlet but the author needed it to be 400 pages. If I space out listening, it's usually not a problem because most non fic books are so repetitive. I suspect that's the secret behind video's popularity, people's attention is in short supply.

[virgildotcodes]

I’m a pretty slow reader. I tend to reread sections, pause and play around with the ideas that come into my head, get lost while doing that and have to start over… I still prefer reading specifically because it allows me to do all that at my own pace. I don’t have to feel rushed along by a presenter or actively pause, rewind, try to scrub the timeline to find a point I want to rehash etc.

[thisisabore]

I really think you have got a point, I'd add however that reading is more cognitive effort than watching a video, at a basic level (that is, information in the text or video put aside).

Just see how hard it is to read more than a few paragraphs when tired before bed vs. how hard it is to watch something in the same state.

I think this gets added to the point you are making about reading skills declining.

[brokencode]

People learn best in different ways. Some learn best by reading, some by tinkering, some by watching and listening. I heard this over and over in school and college.

I don’t think it has anything to do with reading speed. When taking in complex technical information, you spend more time thinking and trying to understand than actually reading.

If you’re finding that you can quickly race through content, it probably just means you find the content easy to understand because you’re already familiar with many concepts.

[c0redump]

> no solid evidence

IMO you don’t need any. The correctness of your conclusion is self-evident. Proof by common sense, QED.

[recursive]

I happen to agree with the conclusion also. And you don't need a rigorous proof to do what you want to do. But I often find that people appeal/resort to "common sense" when they don't have a coherent argument, and just can't conceive of any other point of view.