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Discussion on: Articles vs Videos - Which is Your Learning Preference?

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aileenr profile image
Aileen Rae

I much prefer written content. A few reasons:

  • reading is quicker for me,
  • reading is a more active brain task so I absorb the information more,
  • it's much easier to skim (or Ctrl+F) in an article to reference something than it is to scrub through a video timeline
  • you can copy and paste code snippets.

I do occasionally prefer a video for introducing me to a brand new concept, or for high-level abstract topics. The WET Codebase talk from Dan Abramov is a good example of something I would not take in as well in writing.

As an aside, I imagine DEV members will on average prefer written content, given that's what it's a platform for?

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lengsovandara profile image
Sovandara LENG

I do agree with you guys. Reading is good when we already have some basic concepts but video is better when new concept. Actually, I also prefer reading because it quicker too for me.

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shahednasser profile image
Shahed Nasser

I was gonna mention if a video has a transcript would it be similar to a blog post experience, but then noticed that the video you included has a transcript so I guess that could answer my question!

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aileenr profile image
Aileen Rae

Haha, Yes, that transcript is a really nice accessibility addition but it’s not as nice to read as a formatted article.

In theory, you could write a nicely formatted transcription, but at that point you’re creating two pieces of content and that’s a lot of work.

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shahednasser profile image
Shahed Nasser

I think there are tools that automate it but you most probably would still need to proof it, especially if it contains code blocks.