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[DISCUSS] Pros/cons of videos for technical documentation? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by to c/technology@lemmy.ml
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You probably have already noticed that nowadays it's becoming fashionable online to share technical material via videos (eg YouTube.)

I somehow can understand the appeal of creating videos for sharing thoughts/news, esp b/c it takes way less time and focus compared to writing things (just hit the record button and go.)

But videos are
๐Ÿ‘Ž not index-able (at least locally)
๐Ÿ‘Ž not searchable
๐Ÿ‘Ž not copy-paste friendly if at all
๐Ÿ‘Ž impossible to skim through
๐Ÿ‘Ž a major distraction from the train of thoughts

IMO, in most cases, the more effective and impactful medium of technical comms is the written form: a Mastodon toot, a blog post, a gist, a Pastebin entry or even a Facebook post!

What are your thoughts?

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[โ€“] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

For me personally it's easier to watch a video than to read a blog post or whatever these days. That's mostly because I can listen/watch while doing chores. However, if I need to use it later there's just no way I can find it or find what was in it. I like the format of Theprimeagen in particular when he goes over blog posts, I can always refer to that when I want to. So I'd say:

  • videos as a replacement for written media: no
  • videos as an addition to written media: yes

I think Supabase does this well. The documentation is there, videos are more specific and lengthy

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