As a cranky old man, I’ve often ranted at length about the Internet’s inevitable move towards video. When I’m researching a problem and Google spits up a link to an answer and I see it’s a link to YouTube, I groan. I don’t want to watch 7 minutes of pre-amble before I get my answer. I want text that I can quickly skim through to find the bit I need. Reading is fast, watching video is not.
So when I saw the headline What happens to literacy when the internet turns into a giant TV station? it made me happy because I thought I’d found a kindred spirit in the author.
Well, turns out that’s not the case; it’s actually a much more balanced piece, though I still like MIT social scientist Sherry Turkle quote “A life of visual memes is not enough.”
I found it to be an interesting read and you might too, if you’re at all interested in how ubiquitous Internet access is potentially changing our culture.
Or if you hate reading maybe they’ll make a video for you to watch.
I get angry sometimes when I want to skim text for answers or an interesting headline and see a video player instead. There’s no sense in everything being video! Do your video if you want but how about a text summary underneath it. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.