Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I totally agree about information presented only in videos when it would be so much faster to read. I think just making videos is a lazy way to present information, it's more work to think and write it out clearly.

My goodness, I've often wondered if I'm in a minority, or if web designers just don't do their homework on how people think. I still don't know, of course - but I'm happy to see there's at least a few of us!

I took courses on this when I earned my MA in Communication. Video IS a great method for SOME things. Just not all. I still have a chart that I received from a professor that explains when to pick which medium.

But, it is not often about using the best medium for the task, it is about perception of what the consumer wants. Some people prefer video because they like the medium - but they do not learn better or faster because of it. And those creating it often like it because it seems easier to do (of course, it often is crappy video in terms of accomplishing its objectives). I have had clients who demand I create something in video because their audience will not read. Or because they perceive it as a "cool" form of communication. WHAT????? Doesn't matter if it is the best form. So, they pander. And, the rest of us suffer. Of course, I have created video that is perfect for its purpose - such as when modeling sales behavior.

The latest craze is to have all communication - no matter the purpose - be created to work on a smart phone. Yeesh...do not get me started.

Can you tell this is a hot button of mine, lol?????

Funny discussion! I would much rather skim a page of writing than watch a video about most things. And the times I do want to watch a video, I speed them up a bit. Fortunately YouTube and most other video sites have the option to change the speed to 1.25 or 1.5 speed.

Also, I'm thinking that vibration machines like the Power Plate are supposed to be helpful for bone density. No way I'm spending that kind of money on one, though.

I'm curious - does anyone on here prefer videos to text for learning about a product? Are those of us who are more likely to post also more likely to prefer text? Or do we all actually prefer text and the marketers are way off base?

My gut says that people who like words, like to read, read well, read fast, etc, and are not dyslexic, have trouble reading and so on - we like text better. As Susan said, she can skim something quickly. Comprehension and being able to quickly identify what a topic is about is likely part of it.

Yes, I prefer text, can quickly re-read a sentence/phrase.
Often videos are much too slow.

Alternatively if the video is showing how to physically do something it can be very helpful but that''s a different matter.

My hubbie is a strong writer, decent reader - not blazingly fast, but solid. He often prefers videos. He thinks differently than I and works bottom up, not top down. For me, the big picture is often all I need. He cannot get to the big picture until he understands the details. When reading, he cannot skim and get what he needs to understand. Reading, then, takes more time and he might re-read something to fit it into his growing understanding.

As a result, I rarely know a lot about anything, but know a little about a lot. He knows things much more deeply.

I definitely fall into the reader group, which is fortunate since most of the scientific literature that I had to adsorb during my career is not the sort of thing that can be covered in a YouTube video.

The one exception is when it comes to information that I need to be able to work on my classic car. I have to do the work since the last dealership closed about 30 yrs ago. There have been several times where I have seen written instructions about how to fix something that I haven't had to work on before. In most of these cases, the written instructions only made sense after I saw a video of someone doing the repair. Usually the video didn't quite apply because the car in the video was pretty well disassembled because they were doing a restoration. But by combining the info from the written and video, I was able to figure out what needed to be done.

Views, interesting that you mention your husband working from the bottom to the top.
I am a voracious reader. Always books, I rarely read a magazine.
However, if I have occasion to when passing time in the dentist waiting room etc..... I work from the back page forwards. This is always and I've no idea when this started, or why.

I prefer to read, love reading, but if I need to learn how to fix something a video is better for me.
A sister loves to listen to books on tape, I can't stand them. On a long drive last summer she listened to one and I read a different book.

For instructions on how to do an exercise, how to do stretching or how to do a particular position on the power plate, I definitely prefer a video.

Yes, for illustrating a particular motion or position or sequence of movements, there's nothing like a good visual. For selling a product- I won't look at videos if I'm trying to find out what a product does, so marketing to people like me should allow us to discover the product's purpose in text.

As all of you have illustrated, video can be powerful when you need to do something you haven't done and text cannot easily capture that. Working on a car, making a complex recipe, fixing something, etc. The rest of the time? Not often the best choice. But tell that to the marketing team!