Shorthand personal experience (rant) with the attention economy: How-to videos. Google search for instructions to do a very simple thing and most results are YouTube how-to videos, wherein I will have to watch some yahoo yammer at me for several minutes about how to do something that literally could be accomplished in ten seconds on a list with fewer words than this comment. To bring it around, I simply do not want to spend my attention on video unless the medium actually adds something that text would be unable to convey.
This is also why I quit going to find out what Scott Adams thinks. He ditched the written format in favor of video. Seems to me that video is more expensive and time consuming to produce, edit, and maintain, but there must be some reason it's preferred o the content creator side.
The problem isn't skimming, but that articles are becoming more and more simplified into less words yet convoluted in the sense that context is hidden elsewhere. Case in point health articles on the top of every Google Search, or the mess hall that is self-help content. Not every article is written like some kind of tech instruction manual where everything is laid out clearly and tacit knowledge are all-around. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7l2hUp0CkQ
Been offended by those YouTubes myself - get to the point. Also in Search, too many YouTube references regarding answers like what a green vs red icon on my car display means. Sure, it's in that big car manual stuck away somewhere. All I wanted to know was does my key fob battery need replacing. And I get sent to a YouTube because somebody imagines getting rich from hits.
Long ago it writing proposals, I learned that a graphic was better than words. Produced more winning proposals. But creating a good graphic required a LOT of thought, then a decent artist to take a bad sketch into reality. That demands skills few of us have.
Industry outlook for meme creators is good. It's not easy. How can we get there?
I've long thought that those music videos that flashed scene after scene were rewiring young brains. Am I wrong?
One of the most beneficial classes I had in my graduate program in environmental fluid mechanics was a class on technical communication, which taught the right and wrong ways to do data visualization.
I have had similar instructions provided on how to present data. I worked with a senior engineer that had a specific knack for explaining complex things with simple graphics. I most certainly try to do that but admit my skill is not well honed. I imagine it's related to individual thinking patterns. I do so admire those who have that bit of creativity in graphic expression. Many of the meme floating about show great communication skill as you note. Others seem rather odd, perhaps computer generated and often fail to create the message. I do see search finds places to generate memes from images.
Shorthand personal experience (rant) with the attention economy: How-to videos. Google search for instructions to do a very simple thing and most results are YouTube how-to videos, wherein I will have to watch some yahoo yammer at me for several minutes about how to do something that literally could be accomplished in ten seconds on a list with fewer words than this comment. To bring it around, I simply do not want to spend my attention on video unless the medium actually adds something that text would be unable to convey.
This is also why I quit going to find out what Scott Adams thinks. He ditched the written format in favor of video. Seems to me that video is more expensive and time consuming to produce, edit, and maintain, but there must be some reason it's preferred o the content creator side.
Please keep your HWFO in print.
I wonder if the rise of video content isn't related to the younger generations never learning how to skim an article.
TL:DR is the shorthand for many people, another meme.
The problem isn't skimming, but that articles are becoming more and more simplified into less words yet convoluted in the sense that context is hidden elsewhere. Case in point health articles on the top of every Google Search, or the mess hall that is self-help content. Not every article is written like some kind of tech instruction manual where everything is laid out clearly and tacit knowledge are all-around. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7l2hUp0CkQ
But then again do you expect the younglings would want to explore the world with confidence? https://eggreport.substack.com/p/food-and-time
Been offended by those YouTubes myself - get to the point. Also in Search, too many YouTube references regarding answers like what a green vs red icon on my car display means. Sure, it's in that big car manual stuck away somewhere. All I wanted to know was does my key fob battery need replacing. And I get sent to a YouTube because somebody imagines getting rich from hits.
Long ago it writing proposals, I learned that a graphic was better than words. Produced more winning proposals. But creating a good graphic required a LOT of thought, then a decent artist to take a bad sketch into reality. That demands skills few of us have.
Industry outlook for meme creators is good. It's not easy. How can we get there?
I've long thought that those music videos that flashed scene after scene were rewiring young brains. Am I wrong?
One of the most beneficial classes I had in my graduate program in environmental fluid mechanics was a class on technical communication, which taught the right and wrong ways to do data visualization.
I have had similar instructions provided on how to present data. I worked with a senior engineer that had a specific knack for explaining complex things with simple graphics. I most certainly try to do that but admit my skill is not well honed. I imagine it's related to individual thinking patterns. I do so admire those who have that bit of creativity in graphic expression. Many of the meme floating about show great communication skill as you note. Others seem rather odd, perhaps computer generated and often fail to create the message. I do see search finds places to generate memes from images.
May want to repost. The bit around the gun bunny is... disjointed...
Fixed it, thanks. There's always some trash that comes with Medium imports, I got most of it but missed that one.