janiwe
Ben WrightFor the love of god, stop making every tutorial for a piece of software a goddamn video.
It makes it impossible for people to tell if the tutorial even addresses their question at a glance.
CyanCqueak@queex I just want a decent bit of text with some screenshots that I can text search in.
I fondly remember the ANSYS help files of 2008. Such detail, such organisation. Tooootal lack of worked examples...
@cyancqueak I've deal with the opposite problem, too much textual detail and no context, as I work in R a lot, but at least I can tell at a glance if an R package or function is close to what I need.
Jfrench@queex it's ok the documentation is on the discord.
keith@queex number of videos for sw i've found useful: zero.
number of docs for sw i've found useful: thousands, at least.
if you are going to make a video please also include a transcript, please.
In a document: "How to do X in Y"
In a video: "Hello again, this is part 4 of my series about Y. Last time I talked about Z, click the link in the description to find it. Today we're going to be talking about X, and how X can help you in many different ways. *Intro music* If you find this video useful, please remember to like and subscribe! Now, let's get to it— *demonstrates W*"
Bram Meehan@queex @keithpjolley oh, no, first I need to close all these windows and explain how to do that, show you how to navigate to the folder, explain how to open the file…
unlikelyresult@queex The replacement screen I brought for my 3d printer only had a video for installation instructions. I'm still not 100% that it's all plugged in right...
Just so useless. Even when a visual aid is useful, picture are generally better. And even when you really need a video, make a 5 second one in isolation. I do not care about your 'numbers' and never will.
The Goddess Anoia@queex unless, you do the video naked. Then I'll allow it
Jess@queex in the same vein, can we please focus on technical writing as a skill? so much written documentation is absolute shit
@queex
Video is overrated as a medium, IMO. I read faster than I can watch.
Video is overrated as a medium, IMO. I read faster than I can watch.
Protofox Riley@queex not to be a contrarian but for creative softwares (e.g Blender or Ableton) I prefer video as I can understand the process better than if it was written.
HollieK@protofoxriley @queex Horses for courses. Some things are better with video, some things are better written.
@HollieK72 it's also an accessibility thing I guess, I dunno I just find it hard to read longform text when doing something
@protofoxriley I should have written that we need both - some people want a video, some people want a written document.
Anke@protofoxriley @HollieK72 Clearly offering both text with screenshots and video is better than one or the other. :D
Personally I prefer text with screenshots, because it's easier for me to go at my own pace, go over one thing multiple times, etc, but even so I did look up an instruction video once because I couldn't figure out a crochet stitch from text and photos.
Personally I prefer text with screenshots, because it's easier for me to go at my own pace, go over one thing multiple times, etc, but even so I did look up an instruction video once because I couldn't figure out a crochet stitch from text and photos.
Short, looped 5-10 second (or maybe more) clips embedded in a written tutorial gives you all the visual information you could need, without having to rewind or scan forwards to find it again.
Pace is a big drawback. You can process written information at whatever speed you want; A/V dictates its own speed.
And nobody benefits from the "like and subscribe" churn, where the useful information is hidden behind layers of branding and optimisation for the Algorithm.
There's a place for video, don't get me wrong, but not in the way video tutorials exist now, and certainly not to the point where written versions simply don't exist anymore, as we're heading towards.
(Video is also a big accessibility problem.)
slamrOmg +1. Drives me crazy to see a video for something that would take 5secs to skim for a specific piece of info. There is no problem to solve here so STOP IT
John Meadows@queex Amen!!!!
🇨🇦 Jason Bouwmeester 🍁@darrenmorin @queex one of my biggest pet peeves.
Xe 
@queex as someone who is creating these kinds of video tutorials for work, i also make sure to publish them in text form for this exact reason
Exactly! If video is a must, at least provide a (human-curated) transcript!
John BurnsI've determined - for me... that if I HAVE to watch a video - then it more than likely is not for me.
Especially if it is longer than 2 to 5 minutes. That is dead giveaway that I need to keep looking.
@queex they're also not usually accessible to people with sensory disabilities.
Michael Gemar@queex @Jgmeadows Yep, I prefer:
Search “configure feature Alpha in FooApp”
to
“Hi! I’m Jason, Customer Delight Assurance Manager at FooApp. We’re so pleased you’ve chosen us to help you manage your foo needs. In this overly long and not terribly informative video, I’ll take you through some of the main features of FooApp. Those features may or may not include the one you’re interested in, and even if it does I may not tell you what you need to know.
Let’s get started!…”
@michaelgemar @queex "And don't forget to Like and subscribe!"
Derick Rethans
Hubert Figuière@Jgmeadows @michaelgemar @queex and thanks to our patners Nord Space and Square VPN for sponsoring the video
Some Coder@queex I could shoot this toot right into my veins. I wish there was an auto-transcript option for all YouTube videos so I could get a piece of writing to scan quickly before trying to watch one of those things.
D's lack of faith in humanity@queex I don't know how many times I've screamed "get to the fucking point!" when I've watched something like this.
Typically I drop it on x2 and then manually drag to the point where they get past their intro, their ad for their sponsor, a side journey discussing an unrelated topic, and finally to the 5 seconds where they don't actually show me the thing I came here to see.
Sometimes I don't mind video tutorials, but put the steps in the description, pleeeeeaaaasssse!!!
Blort™ 🐀Ⓥ🥋☣️While I agree (wholeheartedly) sadly I don't think this will be a thing until YouTube stops paying more to show a video ad than AdSense does to show a text/image based one on a blog. Oh, and that video ads stop being harder for adblockers to stop than text/image based ads.
Growlph Ibex
Equiton Press@queex I like a reference text and lots of examples. it's the way I learn. it seems software 'teachers' forget they need to have multiple learning styles - I can't follow tutorial videos.
kira :3@queex i hate the video content mill trying to usurp useful information delivery, all my homies hate the video content mill trying to usurp useful information delivery
@chrisisgr8 @queex The main problem is that video has a higher conversion rate :(
aeriqueTo be honest, the commoditisation of tutorials is a big part of the problem. Conversation rate only matters if you're counting something for revenue or marketing reasons, and it's an approach that's fundamentally incompatible with the purpose oh tutorials or other help online.
Jason E Miller@queex This is a serious pet peeve of mine.
Willow "Wolveric" Catkin@queex Tbh, this just struck me as exactly a reason I find video tutorials kind of silly... 🤨 I already found the faff of trying to hop around the timeline if I needed to reference something, awkward, but this definitely hits the nail on the head on another point...
Strangely though, I've seen a community where this very much _isn't_ the common sentiment... when people come and ask, I've had a long history of people _actively_ asking if there's a video tutorial on what they're looking for... 😬
BarryP@queex There’s a strong likelihood of finding that it doesn’t contain what you are looking for, whilst simultaneously discovering that the person speaking has an incredibly annoying way of describing what they’re doing.
@queex @angry_drunk Holy fucking shit! This! A thousand times this!
🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 🐧 🥦Some tasks are quicker to learn with text, instead of watching someone drag their caret up and down their screen.
Albi 
🇵🇱 
@queex https://youtu.be/9NvoLy5_v4c?t=380
They are also used for malware distribution
Unmasking Creeps with Malware (Without Hacking Them)
Heinzenstein@queex
"Hi, how are you guys, I'm $name and in this video ist about $x."
45 seconds animated intro.
"Remember, it helps this channel if you like an subscribe this channel. please also activate notifications so you don't miss out on any new stuff."
"This video is sponsored by $company"
- 4 minute sponsor ad
"So in this video I will be talking about $x. But first I have to read out the top comments under last weeks video."
2 Minutes reading.
"Remember, it helps this channel if you like and ...
"Hi, how are you guys, I'm $name and in this video ist about $x."
45 seconds animated intro.
"Remember, it helps this channel if you like an subscribe this channel. please also activate notifications so you don't miss out on any new stuff."
"This video is sponsored by $company"
- 4 minute sponsor ad
"So in this video I will be talking about $x. But first I have to read out the top comments under last weeks video."
2 Minutes reading.
"Remember, it helps this channel if you like and ...
Orion 🏴☠️🐾⎇ 🔜 EF30@queex If it's at least something visual it's easy to scan through, but the ones that are just a person talking are the worst, like damn, that's what text is for!
Mr. 30㎝ 🍆💦 
🔞 [nsfw.lgbt]@queex YouTube pays more than their blog.
The Peter Pan of Nerdery™@queex Aaand if you’re going to make a video regardless, don’t destroy it with huge pauses, euhms and uhmms to the point where the viewer’s attention is completely lost twenty seconds in. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=77peajQmpoc
Assets management - Penpot Fundamentals
VVelox@queex I'll add to that as some one who has horrible tinitus, it is freaking annoying! Reading is so much easier than listening. On top of that it can't be absorbed in a non-linear manner.
Axel Rafn
LiquidParasyte@queex completely on board with the sentiment, but as a semivisual learner who often needs multiple methods of communication:
@queex by which I want to make clear: having both forms is the best of both worlds, rather than only funneling towards on method or the other.
Phil Stevens 
@queex I'm at least 10x less likely to watch a video about anything I'm trying to solve unless it's a situation where seeing how it's done visually is going to help. Things like welding, machining, and carpentry, and even there I prefer text with good diagrams.
FFS. If you can write code, you can write text. Don't sell your skills short. Get an editor if you're worried about style and syntax.
Ambient Sponge@queex WELL SAID
@queex
The Unix/Linux man page; howto approach is excellent.
There are parts where a short - 30 seconds - embedded video or attached video or link to a video would assist someone.
But there are nowadays people in front of computers who cannot read, or are in the perhaps 10% who although they technically can read are functionally illiterate.
And I don't think videos help them much either. With software.
Condor Puma Serpiente@queex I believe the propensity to make EVERYTHING a video is worse for the internet than AI currently is
Twobiscuits🚴♂️ 
@queex bUt TheN tHey mIghT neED mOrE tEchNicAl WriteRs