Your thoughts about learning from Youtube?

I've used youtube for a few computer solutions, because there was nothing else available. I usually have to go through several until I find someone that talks slow and clearly. Sometimes the videos are out of date and are no longer relevant. It seems to me that on average, one out ten is actually helpful.
 

JustDave said:
I've used youtube for a few computer solutions, because there was nothing else available. I usually have to go through several until I find someone that talks slow and clearly. Sometimes the videos are out of date and are no longer relevant. It seems to me that on average, one out ten is actually helpful.
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That's correct, I find the same... after much searching and watching of various videos I now have 2 or 3 that I have in my favourites that are my go to...
 
I’ve learned many things from YouTube. I learned to crochet on YouTube and I can do it very well now.
Like others here have said, there is a lot of bad health advice on YouTube, so I steer clear of that.
These days I watch a lot of politics on YouTube because the changes are so rapid that it’s difficult to keep up. I feel that it’s more important now than it ever was to keep up with what is happening.
 

I learned how to install Linux on my computer from Utube but I had to go through about 6 different videos to find one that was useable. Some were presented by geeks understandable only to other geeks. Some seemed to require supporting software that either didn't work or was no longer available. I can deal with the fast talkers by stopping the video and replaying until I understand. But good instruction should be better than that. It can be a zoo.

There is a lot of information out there on Utube like the washing machine tip that you won't find anywhere else. But like the rest of the net, Utube suffers from a shortage of garbage filters.
 
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@JustDave, there's a feature on Youtube vids these days that allows you to slow down (or speed up) the vid. It's that little sort of gear-shaped icon, bottom right of the frame. You can choose "playback speed". I sometimes speed up slow talkers in interviews, and have even slowed down the occasional technical-demonstration portion to follow nuances of technique.
 
One thing that drives me crazy is some nobody that starts his video with a theme song punctuated by "Zoom", "Crunch", and and a fireworks explosion as if you're in for some dazzling instruction video. That's followed by commentary about what was covered a month ago and last week's insight, and pressing the the "likes button before we get started. And don't forget to bla bla bla. But first one more thing..."

We are now three minutes into the video, and nothing helpful has been said, and we still don't know if anything still to be said will have any use at all.

That cats and dogs videos are usually winners. The music videos are usually fun. There's some excellent Boogie Woogie Piano and dance videos.
 
JBR said:
@JustDave, there's a feature on Youtube vids these days that allows you to slow down (or speed up) the vid. It's that little sort of gear-shaped icon, bottom right of the frame. You can choose "playback speed". I sometimes speed up slow talkers in interviews, and have even slowed down the occasional technical-demonstration proton to follow nuances of technique.
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Yes, I use that too. It's quite helpful.
 
dilettante said:
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.
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Corporate media exists for profit. It won't do anything that overtly jeopardizes it's income. At the same time, editors are human beings with preferences, opinions, and likes. This is why, in the UK, if you lean to the right on politics, you read the likes of the Daily Mail. If you lean to the left, you most likely buy The Daily Mirror. That's because the editorial control pushes things in that direction. It's deliberate, it's playing to their established customer base.

But here's the kicker - can you name a single so called "alternative media" source that isn't the very same thing? Which of them lack a bias? Which of them isn't concerned with making money? Which of them, on the net, aren't primarily after clicks (popularity)? It's the same thing, and it can't be erased.

As for repeating things - that most often arises when a news service gets lazy and repeats what comes across the wire via the likes of Reuters. So they simply copy and paste the Reuters text. But then again, consider this - where does the alternative media get it's information? Do they have journalists going out to record events? Do they have a network of people looking/writing content? Nope. 99% of them are simply spinning what they have seen on traditional media, or they're using the very same Reuters feed. It's one big circle-jerk.

As to your final line - I'm sorry, but how much media do you watch that you don't already agree with? If you're on the right, how often do you watch left leaning media? The same goes the other way. You know why readers of the Daily Mirror like to read it? Because they agree with most of what it publishes. Same with the Daily Mail. If you're left leaning, you're not likely watching Fox news every night. How many right wingers choose to watch MSN every night?

In other words, we like our biases. We're a slave to them.
 
fish creek said:
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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It would be mistaken to suggest everything on Youtube is garbage, for sure. However, you also suggest we must use "discernment", and I question whether people ever do so. For example, how often do you learn something from Youtube and then do a check on all the salient facts? This is especially true of any political content. I don't think much of any research happens beyond the silo's people belong.

My point about the writing was that at least anything you read had gone through filters for accuracy and legibility. You know, I'm not great at the English language, but I get by. I would write the chapters of my books as best I could. You cannot imagine how many questions, edits, and changes come from from the first round of editorial. You just can't see much beyond your own thought process. I know that no matter how much I tried, how hard I worked, I never ever got through editorial without questions and corrections. Never. Having asked at the time (I was surprised by all this) other authors what their experience was, they told me they had the very same thing happen to them.

I watched a history channel on Youtube the other day. Watching it, and checking, I found that all they were doing was regurgitating what was on Wikipedia. The individual wasn't well informed, didn't have any insights, and for all I knew hadn't spent more than an hour on presenting their video. I don't know, I find that sad.
 
One of the more valuable forms of news reporting is entire interviews and speeches and such. Contrast this with the carefully edited snippets promulgated by corporate media outlets in order to distort the information and/or discredit the source - it's an old game.

By placing statements into context their meaning can become clear and having the supporting information helps validate their authenticity.

This may be exactly why people reject YouTube (and Rumble, etc.) as news sources. Free access to what happened destroys media narratives fabricated from sound bites. Stories from cable news and "newspaper" web sites is often like a "ransom note," constructed by arranging bits and pieces glued together by biased commentary spouted by corporate actors.
 
Another small trend that I am seeing is more local coverage on YouTube. This is probably pretty tiny so far, since it is mainly by retirees with non-compete agreements.

As a result there are a lot of hard-to-find videos of 10 minutes or less. These cover local weather forecasts, high school sports, local elections and board meetings, construction road closures, etc.

Those are all things being squeezed out of formerly local TV coverage as corporate takeovers consolidate station ownership. They are gradually shrinking local news coverage in favor of prepackaged broadcasts of centrally created national coverage. How this is use of the public spectrum in the public interest escapes me.

This is a big country, not some little European pissant of a place or the cloister of urban barnacles along our northern border.
 
JustDave said:
I learned how to install Linux on my computer from Utube but I had to go through about 6 different videos to find one that was useable. Some were presented by geeks understandable only to other geeks.
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The majority of Linux geek "how to" videos that I have come across ended up being useless, as the geek had a thick accent, didn't insure that the audio portion was " listenable", or just did a poor job of explaining. I "Google" for Linux solutions, frequently and many times end up on Reddit in a thread that does prove useful.
 
I've found that the more effort a Youtuber puts in his/her video, the more valuable it is. Not always, but often. Automotive, household, electric, plumbing, the beauty is it's all there.

Off-topic a bit -- I like to watch the "This Old House" videos, even though it's practically ludicrous to begin to follow their practices. But it's a great point at which to start. Power Nation for automotive -- same thing.
 
JustDave said:
One thing that drives me crazy is some nobody that starts his video with a theme song punctuated by "Zoom", "Crunch", and and a fireworks explosion as if you're in for some dazzling instruction video. That's followed by commentary about what was covered a month ago and last week's insight, and pressing the the "likes button before we get started. And don't forget to bla bla bla. But first one more thing..."

We are now three minutes into the video, and nothing helpful has been said, and we still don't know if anything still to be said will have any use at all.

That cats and dogs videos are usually winners. The music videos are usually fun. There's some excellent Boogie Woogie Piano and dance videos.
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I hate the fluff in the beginning, and appreciate content creators who segment or chapter their vids. This makes it much easier for me. I use YT videos kind of like reviews online, and so I am skeptical of much until I research if there is a fallacy to their words. I am a senior that is farming DIY guy who does not have time for the bull butter many pass off.
 
Youtube is awesome. I've used it for many difference kinds of maintenance and repair jobs.
 

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