Graham Everhart
Gigawatt121Please. I’m begging you. Not every tutorial needs to be a video.
jcrabapple@Gigawatt121 sometimes I just want to read!
@jcrabapple Yup. Let me roll at my own pace and not have to follow along.
Tracy Hall@Gigawatt121 @jcrabapple "follow along"?!? How about waiting for them to f'ing catch up?!?
Ligia Morris@jcrabapple @Gigawatt121 sometimes I can’t tolerate people’s voices 🫢
Jernej Simončič �@jcrabapple @Gigawatt121 I never want to watch a video. Never.
Jan D@Gigawatt121 opinions on what should be one vs. what should not? (I do research use of instructions for my PhD)
@simulo hard to say. It depends. I think for things like how to draw with very technical instructions on proportions etc,.it's better to have text that you can refer to and can take time to study rather than follow along. But for stuff like taking apart a piece of equipment, it helps to see what is being done rather than just referring to a manual.
@Gigawatt121 that makes a lot of sense!
EllenInEdmonton 
@Gigawatt121
Personally, I often prefer to do both: watch a person complete the steps in a video and then, refer to the written/drawn instructions as I do it myself. When it comes to food prep, I almost never want to watch a video! Just put the ingredients/instructions in the correct order, please!
Personally, I often prefer to do both: watch a person complete the steps in a video and then, refer to the written/drawn instructions as I do it myself. When it comes to food prep, I almost never want to watch a video! Just put the ingredients/instructions in the correct order, please!
Alexander The 1st@Gigawatt121 @simulo On the other hand, it really depends on if the video about the equipment stuff focuses on being moving rather than being stuck on a single point.
For example, compare ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKnbazLsM7g ) with ( https://youtu.be/npGL2-pRXlU ).
The first one spent 20 minutes talking about static before actually getting to the motherboard/CPU installation steps.
The other video is 20 minutes total.
How to Build a Gaming PC 2012 - Part 2
Vik@simulo @Gigawatt121 I would prefer that each video has a mandatory transcription. Then I can choose: Do I want to quickly screen the transcription for a keyword I am looking for instead of waste 20 min of my time watching a video that does not even contain the information I am looking for - or do I rather want to watch a step by step explanation instead of trying to figure out how this written instruction is supposed to be done.
And: inclusion. Allow people to choose.
And: inclusion. Allow people to choose.
FatherFireball@simulo @Gigawatt121 Personally - anything that requires copying lengthy commands to run locally, i.e. programming/IT administration/etc. Other than that I think it boils down to preference for visual learning vs written instruction for me, I tend to do better when given a book/article vs. a video most times.
That said, repair/maintenance videos for things like cars are a godsend if it's short and to the point.
Amy (she/her)@fatherfireball @simulo @Gigawatt121 Key point being if it's short and to the point, but not *too* short either.
Example of too short: I was looking for where to find the hood latch sensor on my car recently and found a video about cleaning it. Dude just skipped past the part showing me *where* the sensor was and how to pull it out of my car. I don't need to watch how to put a part in some rubbing alcohol to clean it, I need to see *where* it is. 😭
@DeathKitten Ah that's golden, gotta love when they leave out the most critical piece of info lol
🦄 I Make Robots 🦄@simulo @Gigawatt121 We do both for our internal maintenance instructionals. Step by step written instruction with photos, then also videos that go through each step.
Mikael Hansson@simulo @Gigawatt121 I know of exactly one thing where videos _combined with a good manual_ have been helpful, and that’s when dismantling parts of a car or motorcycle.
All other cases: written prose with the possible addition of clarifying images or diagrams.
All other cases: written prose with the possible addition of clarifying images or diagrams.
Mike Laursen@Gigawatt121 @simulo Wish I could facilitate connecting a few people on this topic. Stewart Brand (the guy who started the Whole Earth Catalog and wrote How Buildings Learn) is writing a book about maintenance. He’s currently writing a chapter on instruction videos, what makes a good or bad one. He is discussing it a lot lately on Twitter. (He has a Mastodon account or two but they seem to be inactive.)
@simulo @Gigawatt121 Tagging @hrheingold who may be in touch with Stewart Brand. It would be nice if Brand were active on Mastodon.
Howard Rheingold@mlaursen @simulo @Gigawatt121 Hi. Stewart is finishing a book, and his usual practice is to turn everything else off.
@simulo @Gigawatt121 One opinion: A lot of instructions have frustrated me by showing step-by-step how to disassemble something, and then it ends with "just reverse the steps".
Except it isn't that obvious how to reverse the steps (because entropy). If anything, when one makes a set of instructions show how to put the thing together and then say at the end, "Just reverse the steps to disassemble."
@simulo @Gigawatt121 Concrete example of what I'm talking about: I was watching a YouTube video on how to replace the shark fin antenna on a Honda CR-V. They had a step where you remove the headliner on the car, but no instructions on how to reinstall a headliner.
Reinstalling a headliner is not a simple matter of "reversing the steps". It's by far the hardest part of the entire process and they just waved their hands on how to do it.
> It's by far the hardest part
> of the entire process
Is it also hard to describe, how to do it? I recently had a similar problem ("now, just do X") but I had no great idea how it could have been better described (the instruction that helped me, did not explain X, but how to use a jig to simplify it)
@Gigawatt121 @simulo I don’t know anything about woodworking, but I’m impressed how woodworkers like my brother-in-law build their tools/jigs as part of a project. I do the same with writing scripts as part of software projects, but there’s no romance to a software script like there is to a woodworking jig.
Rainer Burkhardt ❌Tutorials need a date. So that I don't waste Time on program versions that don't even exist any more
by the way, normal blog entries also need a date!
johnaldis@simulo @Gigawatt121 Is it a tutorial in a visual medium? Showing you how to use a paintbrush probably benefits from a video. Showing you how to write a Django app doesn’t. There are some nice “educational series” out there showing off things which you’d want to *learn* from text but giving an idea of how it all fits together. It’s relaxing to watch Ben Eater plug chips into a breadboard, but if I need the pinout of the 74LS08, I don’t want to scrub through a video.
Everett Wilson@Gigawatt121 Couldn't agree more! I often skip most video tutorials in search results, preferring ones with step-by-step screenshots or static images instead. They're at the same time quicker and easier to follow.
@Gigawatt121 Worst offenders for me are video tutorials demonstrating a simple keystroke.
@eawilsonca hahaha like REALLY? Do you have to show me?
eishiya@eawilsonca I suspect those exist for the sole purpose of baiting people searching for shortcuts into watching preroll ads.
Josef 'Jeff' Sipek@eawilsonca @Gigawatt121 What’s not to like about a 5 minute video about a keystroke? It follows the 6-part story telling format:
- 1 minute of channel “theme song”
- 1 minute of talking about the key stroke
- 1 minute of a sponsor message
- another minute of getting ready for the keystroke
- the keystroke(!)
- 1 minute to wrap up, suggest you comment/like/subscribe
Sandwich it with pre-/post- ads and you’ve got yourself a viral video!
Momentary Unicorn@Gigawatt121 I actually would like to have access to both a video tutorial and the same tutorial as something I can read. Some things are explained better via video and others are just easier to read. 
I feel like people that make tutorials are missing out by not doing both, but sometimes I guess there's just not enough time in the day.
I feel like people that make tutorials are missing out by not doing both, but sometimes I guess there's just not enough time in the day.
Jesse Virgil@MomentaryUnicorn @Gigawatt121 Agreed! It’s great to have options to cover all learning types.
Chloe Tse 
@Gigawatt121
YES! I don't want to have to rewind repeatedly when I missed something because I looked away as I was following along!
YES! I don't want to have to rewind repeatedly when I missed something because I looked away as I was following along!
einspruchOr a transcript of a video.
GlitchedHeart@Gigawatt121 @mcgrew so true. Dislike having to scrub through a video to see if it actually covers what I’m looking for
@mcgrew @GlitchedHeart The powers that be think everything has to be video and its irritating.
Notorious RBMK@Gigawatt121 SEO and AI are going to destroy the text web within like, a year, so this tendency is only going to accelerate “lmao”
Michael Gurski@Gigawatt121 see my video for why this is the case! /s
Catherine RW@Gigawatt121 yes! More of the good sewing pattern type instructions please... line drawings clearly showing each step, accompanied by words. Line drawings are often clearer than photographs. (And yes, I know it takes skill to put them together).
🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑@Gigawatt121 A paragraph is worth a thousand video frames.
ashley@Gigawatt121 @randomgeek tutorial that is an immersive vr experience 🤔
Random Geek@rabcyr @Gigawatt121 hopefully not for an NGinx config tutorial.
Appropriate Tributes@randomgeek TUTORIALS FOR THE TUTORIAL GOD
@godtributes @randomgeek VIDEOS FOR THE VIDEO THRONE
Mike Czerski
Doug Masson@Gigawatt121 Sometimes plain old text is a fantastic delivery system for information!
moved to @@Gigawatt121 how about a menu full of videos
Finnley Dolfin@Gigawatt121 I was just saying this last night as I was trying to solve a “band error” on my radio
Brett Kromkamp@Gigawatt121 So, so true.
Fox@Gigawatt121 I also don't want one's complete backstory with every single cooking or baking recipe!
Jennie Blake@Gigawatt121 and if they do make one. PLEASE can they also make a transcript? For me, I genuinely cannot learn from someone just talking and gesturing at me, unless I take copious notes. Not something I want to do all the time!
@Gigawatt121 (in addition to it being bottom line accessibility issues not to caption/transcript of course)
Kristin, She Reads@Gigawatt121 Making your tutorial a video is the best way for me to search for another resource, Videos are great for watching once. Text is better for starting and stopping, for checking back with while I attempt something, for referring back to when I forget something or need to refer back to a detail.
Shadowbottle@Gigawatt121 don’t forget to hit like and subscribe!
Yirmeya@Gigawatt121 pivot to ascii
masteraero 
@Gigawatt121 Or at the very least place the commands and download links in the video description 😤
Aled Treharne@Gigawatt121 so frustrating - sometimes I just want to skim read it to get the highlights.
Jon Tromans@Gigawatt121 yup. I've nearly killed myself during yoga videos 😂
Multi format is the way to go.