Your thoughts about learning from Youtube?

J

JBR

Senior Member
Location
Southern Canada mtn. valley, tad west of Rockies
I believe it was 17 or 18 years ago that I started turning to Youtube for instructional vids that demonstrated pointers, techniques, and even 'best practices'. People with some real know-how & skill had launched channels and were showing & explaining practical things. Some posts were fairly shoddy, but some posters were smart & experienced amateurs, and some were trade-school instructors in their professional lives.

I'd worked in home construction in my youth, was living on a rural place with all sorts of projects, but still I'd learn useful things concerning carpentry, plumbing, household electrical, and such. I'd had no background in welding when I acquired some equipment from an estate sale. I did find a useful book in the local library, but I found what I really needed in Youtube vids showing and discussing safety aspects, various levels of technique, and a lot of fine points.

But in the last few years, an increasing number of very brief Youtube vids have been posted that are frequently in that narrow/tall, vertical frame, having been shot using smart phones. I find most of these a disappointment.

Anyone else have experience? If so, Your thoughts?
 

I have, and continue to learn a lot of skills from youtube.
Yes, the "short" videos are popular. I guess some people can't focus their attention long enough for a twenty minute video!
One lady I watch was (I think) encouraged to post shorts. It is not her nature as she is incredibly thorough. I can sense its not her thing.
 
I don't like the "shorts" at all... I've heard they started that to compete with TikTok. I use YouTube for instructional videos, mostly for new recipes and how to make them or if I need to repair something. I like travel topics but those aren't instructional.

What I won't touch there is "advice" videos, or health issues. I have seen some quite dangerous videos for those topics from people who know absolutely nothing about the topic for which they pretend to be an expert. Some of it is bizarre.
 

I don't like shorts at all.. not at all...

I didn't really use Youtube for much except my own channel and some music, for the first 16 years... ..but since my seperation from my husband..I've had to learn a lot of the skills that he used around the house.., and for that YT has been an amazing help for me.. and through using it more I found other channels of a different type that interest me... so I use it every single day now... rather than just occasionally or for my own chhannel...
 
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I watch quite a few videos , most of which I find very helpful. Some products even suggest using a YouTube video to assemble their product. Example : my ebike I bought from Costco suggested a YouTube video for assembly instructions. I followed it and found it very helpful.

Some videos, ( fewer ) arenā€™t helpful . In fact they can be very dangerous. Most of them being health related. Example: Covid YouTube videos made by people who ā€˜thoughtā€™ they knew more than the top scientists of the world.

Generally speaking, most videos are very helpful and I am grateful to have such a selection to choose from. There are some very intelligent , helpful people willing to share their time and wisdom.

Note: I donā€™t know much about shorts. I donā€™t watch them.
 
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An instructional video enabled me to do a plumbing repair without calling a professional. I have difficulty with following videos for making technical adjustments or modifications to my phone and laptop. In those cases, I tend to reply more on printed instructions with screen shots.
 
Shorts work for some types of brief humor and distraction, but yeah they are more annoyance than otherwise. I think YouTube pushes people to post more of them though.
 
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Jules said:
Itā€™s definitely been helpful for repairs, especially in the house or the car. Got rid of old manuals.

One thing to watch is the date created. There may be better info later, especially for your computer.
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There are a few tech reference books I've kept, but on non-digital subjects. I agree that many microchip devices, how they work and how to adjust, tweak or fix them, change almost yearly... models/series change, procedures update.
 
JBR said:
I believe it was 17 or 18 years ago that I started turning to Youtube for instructional vids that demonstrated pointers, techniques, and even 'best practices'. People with some real know-how & skill had launched channels and were showing & explaining practical things. Some posts were fairly shoddy, but some posters were smart & experienced amateurs, and some were trade-school instructors in their professional lives.

I'd worked in home construction in my youth, was living on a rural place with all sorts of projects, but still I'd learn useful things concerning carpentry, plumbing, household electrical, and such. I'd had no background in welding when I acquired some equipment from an estate sale. I did find a useful book in the local library, but I found what I really needed in Youtube vids showing and discussing safety aspects, various levels of technique, and a lot of fine points.

But in the last few years, an increasing number of very brief Youtube vids have been posted that are frequently in that narrow/tall, vertical frame, having been shot using smart phones. I find most of these a disappointment.

Anyone else have experience? If so, Your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Here's the truth as I see it.

I have written, and had published in many languages, technical books in the computing arena. Writing these books I learned a few things, but best of all were two: Editorial, and peer review.

In short, editorial make sure that what you're writing makes sense. That you're communicating at a uniform level, that you stay on topic and impart information in a way that can be easily consumed. Peer review ensures you are accurate, that your conclusions are proven, that you are not misleading or inaccurate.

Now, going in to writing those books (I no longer do it), I was sure that I'd need very little editorial interaction, and that peer review would be a breeze. After all, I knew my stuff, and I can write a word of twenty. I was wrong. When I got my first drafts back from editorial, I found they had tore me a new [behind piece]. Peer review? Well, what about this, what about that, what about this scenario, what about that scenario. It was very time consuming (much more time than writing the original text) to bring things into line.

Which brings me to Youtube and most of the videos. Mainstream media is much distrusted and chastised, but let me tell you, when it's accurate and truthful information you want, nothing beats it. Certainly not 99.9% of "alternative media". There is no editorial, not peer review, it's just talking heads into a phone.

This is why I laugh and criticize people who get their information from Social Media. It's like asking the dumbest person in the room for information. Or asking the most popular person for information on any topic. It's just a really bad idea. Experts are important, and it's not just a word. Youtube is entertainment - but it's not a good way to get an education. The only way to get that is dedication, hard work, and consensus. It's not a 15 minute video.
 
I think many are great. Recently viewed a video on a repair that I thought was going to be $1,000 or more, if done by a professional. Turns out this idiot (me), ordered the part for $275, had it two days later and quickly installed. The hardest part was crawling around searching for serial numbers and part numbers of the old part. That took about 3 times longer than the actual repair.
 
@VaughanJB, I can't disagree with your main points. I definitely believe peer review and true expertise are valuable. In my case, say ten years back and more, I certainly found experts (who either taught in a trade school or were professionals in the welding trade) had posted some excellently photographed vids, with good lighting and sound quality. Safety measures & habits were emphasized.

Obviously, that's just one topic. I have some friends who are good with this skill and its application. I often wished they weren't so busy in their lives, but I did manage to get some in-person direction once I'd picked up the basics.
 
YouTube now has more eyeball-hours than Netflix, and that's just on TV sets. Add in PCs, tablets, phones, and the lead it has is staggering.
 
VaughanJB said:
Mainstream media is much distrusted and chastised, but let me tell you, when it's accurate and truthful information you want, nothing beats it. Certainly not 99.9% of "alternative media". There is no editorial, not peer review, it's just talking heads into a phone.
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I don't buy it.

Corporate media have always had a heavy thumb on the editorial scale ever since the time when the newspaper was king. Worse yet we are now in an era where several media corporations exist to push the same narrative.

It is so bad that 'Tubers have repeatedly shown mashups where one "source" after another parrot exactly the same lines on a given topic or event.

If one has already fully bought in to the narrative he will naturally bobblehead along and praise their imprimatur, plug both ears, and chant "La La La!" This is bowing to literal authoritarianism.
 
stretch5881 said:
I do a lot of different stuff. Without YT, I'd be dumb as a box of rocks.
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Yup, YT has saved my DIY arse more than once. I watch old music videos, concerts, football games/clips, and yes I will listen to health information. Three years ago I found this video and became resolute to resist the jab at all costs.
I have probably slept through half that video but I got the jest of it.
 
VaughanJB said:
Here's the truth as I see it.

I have written, and had published in many languages, technical books in the computing arena. Writing these books I learned a few things, but best of all were two: Editorial, and peer review.

In short, editorial make sure that what you're writing makes sense. That you're communicating at a uniform level, that you stay on topic and impart information in a way that can be easily consumed. Peer review ensures you are accurate, that your conclusions are proven, that you are not misleading or inaccurate.

Now, going in to writing those books (I no longer do it), I was sure that I'd need very little editorial interaction, and that peer review would be a breeze. After all, I knew my stuff, and I can write a word of twenty. I was wrong. When I got my first drafts back from editorial, I found they had tore me a new [behind piece]. Peer review? Well, what about this, what about that, what about this scenario, what about that scenario. It was very time consuming (much more time than writing the original text) to bring things into line.

Which brings me to Youtube and most of the videos. Mainstream media is much distrusted and chastised, but let me tell you, when it's accurate and truthful information you want, nothing beats it. Certainly not 99.9% of "alternative media". There is no editorial, not peer review, it's just talking heads into a phone.

This is why I laugh and criticize people who get their information from Social Media. It's like asking the dumbest person in the room for information. Or asking the most popular person for information on any topic. It's just a really bad idea. Experts are important, and it's not just a word. Youtube is entertainment - but it's not a good way to get an education. The only way to get that is dedication, hard work, and consensus. It's not a 15 minute video.
Click to expand...
Truth is stranger than fiction. No doubt YT is full of garbage, and so is the world. But there are wonderful nuggets of information to be unearthed on YT. You must practice discernment with anything on the web. Here is a such a video that led me to a much healthier lifestyle
 
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