I was just realizing that I pretty much never click a link to a video post on Lemmy. I think my reasoning is that it's too hard to skim a video to see if it's worth my time, whereas an article can be evaluated initially in a few seconds.

Which kind of links do you engage with more often?

Edit: If you are a small YouTube content creator and it looks like nobody wants to click on videos, consider creating a text version of your video which, granted, is a separate skill, but if you have a message to get out and want to reach people....

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[–] 78 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
  • [–] 29 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    +1 text. Very rarely on video links and almost never on Youtube links.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago

    I feel this. I want to support PeerTube/similar — can you recommend one where I can re-upload the YouTube videos I want to preserve? Is that okay to do? Or are those tube sites more for original content?

    Again (echoing my top-level comment), I run a music comm on my instance. Not linking because I don't want to shill for it, but it can't be too hard to find. I'm wondering if I could (or should‽) use PeerTube/similar to copy/reupload the YouTube videos (because we're on Lemmy and we're not supposed to like YouTube, and I really don't) and then update the links. I actually have a handful of videos YouTube has taken down and I would love to be able to link them. Is that appropriate to ask?

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  • [–] 49 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    Text 100%. I'm a pretty quick reader. I have no desire to sit and watch (listen to) a 10 minute video of material that could have been an article I could read in under a minute.

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  • [–] [S] 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 child)

    Alas, publishing a web page with easy-to-read, quickly-accessible information will:

    a) make your page rated lower in search because people are not spending enough time on your page (that's why all those pages have long pre-ambles even though EVERYONE is there for an answer that is no longer than a few sentences) and

    b) get scraped by AI (thousands of times--which you pay for) which will provide your answer to the world without attribution.

    Whereas on YouTube, you even get advertising revenue.

    I know, I'm like you, preferring text, but even I've started going to those 5 minute YouTube videos and checked the traffic graph to see where the actual fucking answer is.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago

    Content creators don't have to create...they are not owed a living in this way. Secondly if so many hadn't bastardized every ounce of media or topic it may still a enjoyable format.

    You mentioned 'easy-to-read, quickly-accessible information' key thing, quick information. YT has become the opposite.

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  • [–] 27 points 2 weeks ago

    Only text. I completely skip commentary videos because it usually means the speaker can't form complete sentences.

    I will, however, watch things like news where it is important to hear and see the public official giving an announcement or the like, and certain informational videos that show a process where seeing it adds information -- but I still need a text description to convincing enough to get me past hesitation.

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  • [–] 21 points 2 weeks ago

    I'm specifically on Lemmy because it's text based. If I wanted videos I could use Reddit or TikTok on YouTube.

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  • [–] 18 points 2 weeks ago

    Text, and preferably with some info on why I'd want to read it. But I would consider clicking on a video link if again, you actually tell me what it's about and why I should want to watch it.

    IOW, if I am given the same info about the video as I would get by quickly skimming part of an article to see if I want to spend time reading the whole thing. Seems like most links I see here have no context at all, meaning no chance I'd click it.

    Even if I'm on YT and see a title and thumbnail that looks interesting, I'll right-click to open it in a new tab so the page loads in the background without starting to play. Then I can switch to that tab and see if the description and/or comments make me want to actually hit play, otherwise I close the tab.

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  • [–] 16 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Text because I have a limited amount of time in my life and I can scan text quickly for the interesting bits, not so with videos. Watching videos is mostly a waste of my time.

    Lemmy, specifically, is meant to be a mainly text based platform that people can scroll through during short downtimes, including in public. Videos are inconvenient for that.

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  • Text. 90% of the time I watch youtube etc is when I'm eating or trying to pass out etc

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  • [–] 11 points 2 weeks ago

    If I wanted to watch a video, I'd be on a video site. I treat this site like a forum.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago

    Always text. It’s much more pleasant to read information without a lot of visual and auditory noise infiltrating your senses. What is the point of having info inflected to you through some person in a video. Already have Reddit muted. Learned that a while ago haha

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  • [–] 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    On Lemmy, text for sure. I watch an inordinate amount of YouTube, but I go to YouTube to do that.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Definitely text. But even with those, I can usually recognize when a tweet would better capture the whole content

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  • [–] 8 points 2 weeks ago

    Yes, text for me too, for the same reason.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 weeks ago

    I don't even really like links that take me away from Lemmy. Just a body of text in a post. Or embedded photos. I don't want to go anywhere. Also, no for videos.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 weeks ago*

    Posters might be able to entice me to click an external video link if they included a short description of the video in the post's text box, but no one ever does so...

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago
    [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    Text. A video link is fine, just sum it up. If I see someone post a video and nothing behind it, I assume they're just looking to drive engagement to their channel and won't engage here on Lemmy. I assume they want to engage on the platform they're posting on.

    Disclaimer of bias: I run a comm on Lemmy where I've posted over 100 video links with one or more (often a lot more) paragraphs of text behind them. It's the music comm on the instance I reside on.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    I will almost never click a video unless it's a natively visual thing. Like, a music video, a clip of a movie, whatever.

    If it's like "you should learn more about the My Lai massacre - here's a great video" I'm just going to roll my eyes. Use your words. Embedded media is probably fine. Like an article with illustrations or video supplements. I'd much rather just read like a wikipedia article like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_massacre

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    I'm more likely to click on a text link.

    My laptop isn't paired with my headphones so I seldom watch videos on this device. The speakers are pretty terrible.

    My android tablet is what I use for videos. If the video has a clear title I can search, maybe I'll do so but I need to know it will be worth my time.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago

    Text.

    I never click on videos. I want to read at my own pace but watch your 76 minute video.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago

    Text. Youtube is already running in the background.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago

    Text by far but I'm also someone who prefers reading then watching from TV/Reading all the way to porn so unsure how that effects this.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago

    Text. I dont need a simple query dragged into a 20 minute video

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  • Text.

    I block image and video posts in my feed.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago

    I never click on videos.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Neither unless the post or comment includes a summary of the links content.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    Yeh hit and runs tell me the poster is just posting for the sake of it. I know this place needs engagement but giving some context of why its interesting or relevant makes me actually likely to look/respond. In-fact I often assume its a bot.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago

    Text because I'm usually around others and don't want to pollute their peace. Also because I can skim.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago

    I prefer text. Videos are too distracting, especially if I am listening to music while browsing.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Text. I think the answers on this kind of social media are going to skew that way.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago

    Text.

    Video requires too much time dedicated to consume it. If I'm looking for a specific explanation or review or walkthrough that suits a visual medium then I'll go look for a video.

    But even then, for most things a text description with photos to illustrate finer details of often better anyway.

    If I'm doom scrolling there is no chance I'm clicking on random videos. My volume is turned down permanently and I ain't turning it up just to hear it start off with "hey what's up guys it's some dickhead here from some shitty channel where I like to make videos about something no one cares about or is already a saturated market, anyway click on the subscribe button and them we'll go ahead and listen to a promo from a crappy mobile game who's sponsoring this video! And then I'll go ahead and tell you where to buy this item I'm holding that's tangically related, and then I'll go ahead and...."

    Just obnoxious.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago

    If there's a description what the video is about, then the video.

    Otherwise an article, but that I open any link and not just read the comments is pretty rare. Articles also very frequently have a summary directly in the post, as is more technical to copy it from an article compared to a video.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago
    [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago

    I'm most likely to click on text for the same reason !

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago

    I like text. I recognize there is a generational divide in the preference.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago

    Text. I've barely clicked video due to similar reason as OP

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago

    Videos are a plague. YouTube is the mother of all brainrot.

    Learn to read kids, nobody is gonna put the things you need to know in a video.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    I usually prefer text. It’s much easier to skim and decide quickly whether the topic is worth my time. I’ll watch a video if the topic really catches my attention.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    Thinking about it, I do watch videos if they mentioned specifically in a conversation that interests me--that is to say that I'm more likely to watch a video if its linked in the comments.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago

    That makes sense. I think context makes a big difference too. If someone recommends a specific video during a discussion I’m already interested in, I’m much more likely to watch it

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago

    Text.

    I might open the post to see if there is a transcript in the description or comments.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    Same. Text. I love visual content but its so overcooked and false these days, that videos have become a chore.

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