If there is one thing that I really hate about the growing sophistication of the internet – it is videos! There are occasions when being able to see something in film format is invaluable – Dr Magda Havas’s explanation of how electromagnetic radiation can affect our blood is a perfect example – but the vast majority of on-line videos are merely spoken versions of what would otherwise have been written.
Whether they are put up there because their originators genuinely believe that site visitors would rather watch a video than read an article, or because it is quicker and easier to whack up the video than to transcribe what was said, I do not know; I do know that they drive me mad…
If I am given an article – or anything in writing – I can skim through it to find out whether I wish to read it in more detail and whether there are specific bits that I want to focus on. This will take me anything from 30 seconds to 3–4 minutes depending on the length and complexity of the piece.
If I am confronted with a video I cannot do this – I have to watch the whole damn thing to find out 1. – whether I want to watch it at all and 2. – whether there is anything in it that I would like to know more about. Moreover, if I want to go back to anything that has been said, unless I can transfer it to some very sophisticated piece of recording equipment, I will either have to listen/watch the wretched thing all over again or jump around it like a demented frog trying to find the bit I wanted to see or hear again. Even if I find it, it will be hard to take notes, especially if it is complicated, without continually having to spool back to the bit I am trying to grasp.
If it was written down on a piece of paper, none of this would apply. The whole thing would be there in front of me, all and any part of it permanently and easily accessible for me to do with as I wish.
And, if that was not bad enough… The written word is an excellent discipline which all too often is not applied the spoken word. Once in front of a microphone, the majority of us get carried away by the sound of our own voices so that what could be said in 200 words on paper gets padded up to 600 words when spoken.
And finally… Talking successfully and interestingly ‘to camera’ requires a combination of talent and skill which is absolutely not given to all of us – and certainly not to many of those who post promotional or ‘informative’ videos on the web. If you must use the medium, for God’s sake get a competent professional to make the presentation. Waffle combined with poor articulation, topped of with a selection of ‘eerrs’ and ‘ummms’ is enough to drive away even the keenest audience…
As for me – I have already reached for the gin bottle…