The trend to moving content away from text and toward video is exploding, and it’s been driving me crazy for a while. Last night, I finally realized why.
I am a reader, but that isn’t it.
I’m not a watcher, but that isn’t it.
What it is a control thing. When I read a report or news story, I control how I internalize the content. I control the rate, the flow, and many other factors. I can gloss over parts that I deem unimportant or fluffy and reread the parts I want to dive into. I can process the prose and get it. I can jump ahead when I want to and pick out the bits that really make the piece work and enjoy them. It’s fun and involving to read a story. Time flies.
With video, I have to wait. First, the splash screen. Then the intro. Then the obligatory introduction of the host. Then who knows what else. And the story? Well, good luck with that. The presenter has control, and I don’t have the chance to internalize it, just to watch it and hope I can get what I need from it. I figure that out of every two-minute news clip on (news site of your choice), less than half of the time is actual reporting. The credits are always at the end, too. I like the credits and they are important to me.
But more important to me is my time. And I’m wasting it when I try to watch video news.
That’s it. Just a random musing about how I process content. I guess it’s also why I have trouble with internet news lately. Everything is a link to time-wasting video.