I am occasionally a cranky Luddite

[cupcake_goth]

I don't want to watch video tutorials of things. I want text-based tutorials with pictures.

I am kinda meh on video blogs, and by "kinda meh" I mean I usually don't watch them. No, not even ones from goths.

This is hypocritical of me, because I am planning on recording more GCS videos. But ... I want everyone to return to text! I want a return to long-form blogging!

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In other news, I am very low and cranky today. Just ... full of ennui, grrrr, and low-level despair about everything, along with a large helping of impostor syndrome and self-doubt about my day job. Well, about everything, really. I'm pretty sure all of this will pass. I hope.

Comments

[staxxy]

you are a brilliant writer, which is why they wanted you in the first place. You continue to be a brilliant writer, enough so that when you told them you needed another writer onboard to meet all of their goals they listened and hired someone to help you. Because you a THE REAL DEAL.

And not watching vlogs just means that YOUR videos, when you make them, are completely unaffected by what other people are doing. Making your voice truly and unquestionably your own.

It is January. Which is always overwhelming as it comes on the heels of so much holiday stuff and dives into BIRTHDAY,BIRTHDAY,BIRTHDAY,BAD ANNIVERSARY, BIRTHDAY, BIRTHDAY with so many of your nearest and dearest (I feel like I am missing at lest one birthday in there). And you are going to be travelling to the head office this month ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT, plus trying to get ready for Vampire Ball, AND LETS SMACK A DEADLINE ON JUST FOR GOOD MEASURE

[staxxy]

SIGH, I wasnt done but when I hit return it POSTED.

Anyway, half of that list would leave anyone overwhelmed and exhausted. It is reasonable to feel this way. But I am also going to be here reminding you that this feeling is coming from lying brain raccoons. You are all the things you present yourself to be. If you are an imposter thrn NO ONE IS REAL. You are more real than most people can ever hope to be. You are actually honest with yourself and with who you are vs who you present to the world. You are amazing and wonderful and delightful and charming and really intelligent and talented and creative and eloquent. And you are all of these things all of the time.

[kambriel]

I was *just* mentioning this morning this sudden/rabid reliance on video tutorials for the most banal things. It's like, have you ever heard of experimenting and just trying something out ~ maybe use common sense and have some fun, make mistakes, learn? It seems like a lot of the videos would encourage people to be "different" by copying things down to a T, which is utterly not the point of being creative.

I think blogging's suffered a lot from how fractured people have gotten over all the various media sites. This feels like the best place for long-form blogging since it has all the things about lj that worked well which other sites don't have. I think less may be more when it comes to all the social platforms because friend-communities aren't fostered with the same kind of depth when it's a lot of cross posting and this friend sees a post here, and this person sees it there, or people share little bits and bobs and that ends up fulfilling enough to not then go the extra step to connect the dots/feelings/thoughts/experiences in a more cohesive way.

Cut yourself a lot of slack. Anyone (especially Americans) with empathic tendencies is going to have a certain level of background exhaustion with everything that's going on. Just keep being a force for good, surviving another day, and consider it a success.

[chelseagirl]

Yay, text! The thing that drives me crazy about all these videos is that I'm often reading social media on my phone when commuting, or during a quick break at work -- and in either case, I am not going to watch a video.

But you doing GCS ones, that is all kinds of charming. :-)

Re: video tutorials

[ironymaiden]

Preach! I am especially annoyed by videos for technical stuff (because I'm setting up a new phone) but I also hate them for knitting. I want to be able to go at my own pace (which is often much faster than video tutorials) and never have to endure a chatty intro.

[solstice_lilac]

I guess I am a Luddite too. I find video tutorials and vlogs fatiguing to watch. Even when I'm a captive audience with few distractions--on a commuter train, with headphones, watching on my phone--I feel tired trying to watch an entire video to get to the point, while I can read a well-written text blog attentively even on my phone. Maybe it is generational, and I'm just too old for YouTube.

I hope you're feeling better today. What Kambriel wrote about dealing with a certain amount of background stress all the time is a sentiment I have heard from many people lately and I believe it is true. Anyone who cares, anyone who feels and thinks enough to know, is feeling the onslaught--from downright stupidity on up to calculable threats--in the age of Tr*mp. It is a time of insecurity and it is hard to keep working through it. But when you look close at hand, what's most important is always being perfected by you. In your work and your home and with your nearest and dearest, the love's there that you give and receive. You are a force for good!

[carmenbeaudry]

I'm even worse of a Luddite. I want in-person classes. I need to learn by someone watching what I'm doing, telling me when I get it wrong, and then showing me how to do it better. I started going to a knitting clinic last night, so I could learn to knit, and I'm so exciting about it. I feel like I'm actually going to be able to figure this out and stick with it, unlike the countless other times I've tried to learn to knit. The difference is that it's an on-going weekly event, so I have a place to go and people to show me how, when I forget. Which is horribly important when you're dealing with a TBI and fibro.

As far as imposter syndrome, can't help you there. I find that spending time with people who think I'm great helps a bit, but it doesn't get rid of it entirely.

[sistawendy]

Right there with you. Anyone who posts video tutorials should add a speed control.

It's January. There is crankiness in the air everywhere. But there shall be Florida, and of course my pah-tay.

[coyoterose]

I agree with you on video tutorials. They can be a useful adjunct to an illustrated text tutorial, but in no world will they ever replace them.

[musyc]

I get irritated by video tutorials too! I tried to watch one today, and the actual tutorial portion of it was twenty seconds long. The rest of the three minutes was the vlogger talking about getting the idea to make the damn vid! And of course the obligatory begging to like and subscribe, which took another minute.

I don't like vids or podcasts because they are invariably full of rambling and all that ugh. Give me something I can skim quickly for the information first, and let your voice/persona come through in that!

[cameoflage]

I can't multitask nearly as much while watching a video tutorial as while reading a text-with-images tutorial. This makes me resistant to watching new ones, although I'll put old ones on in the background sometimes if I find them entertaining as well as informative. I, too, would like a return to long-form blogging.