# Link that you absolutely can't see is a video **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 21, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-that-you-absolutely-cant-see-is-a-video/497133 "2009-05-21T01:58:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-that-you-absolutely-cant-see-is-a-video/497133/1 "2009-05-21T01:58:24Z")
I just wanted to point this post out: [The “6th Sense” makes your iPhone/Blackberry look like an old shoe. Techies must see.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11157394&postcount=1) We have threads here all the time where people bitch about being asked to warn us it’s a video, and invariably 20 people come in and and say “just mouse over and you’ll see it’s a video”. Well, I don’t want to pick on \*\*newcrasher \*\*at all, but there is definitely a link that you can’t see is a video. I always mouseover, and did so for this one, too: [http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pattie\_maes\_demos\_the\_sixth\_sense.html](http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html) There is no way to know it’s a video. I don’t know anything about [Ted.com](http://Ted.com), so I don’t even know if it’s always videos. And that’s why we ask you to do it - because everything seemingly leads to a video now, even a valid news site (instead of an article.) Whenever anyone asks me for an example I can never put my fingers on it at that moment, so here is the example. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-that-you-absolutely-cant-see-is-a-video/497133/2 "2009-05-21T06:04:13Z")
Yeah, don’t pick on **newcrasher** because that post tells you to “[w]atch” that link, which makes it pretty clear that it is a video. Still, I can understand that (a) someone might have missed that, as it could have been less subtle, and that (b) a different poster might throw up a similar link without even that subtle distinction. So, anyways, how do you propose we make it clear? The two obvious answers I can think of are (a) use a link (not a URL) that includes the word video and (b) put the word video in parentheses afterwards if you use a URL. Thus, to make **newcrasher** ’s post more clear: > [@](#): > > Watch [this video](http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html). > > Be amazed. > I can’t even begin to explain it. OR > [@](#): > > Watch. > > Be amazed. > > [http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pattie\_maes\_demos\_the\_sixth\_sense.html](http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html) (video) > > I can’t even begin to explain it. OR EVEN > [@](#): > > Watch. > > Be amazed. > > [VIDEO](http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html) > > I can’t even begin to explain it. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-that-you-absolutely-cant-see-is-a-video/497133/3 "2009-05-21T11:21:20Z")
Simply using the word video in relation to the link in some fashion is sufficient. The word “watch” is not. It’s a bit too subtle. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/link-that-you-absolutely-cant-see-is-a-video/497133/4 "2009-05-21T13:11:22Z")
That’s all we ask. I want to watch the videos, really, but I don’t want to be caught out at work, watching videos, plus the streaming bogs my whole computer down over Citrix, and then U am stuck with this frozen video screen on my screen, and I can’t navigate away from it or close it for several seconds. But really I wasn’t picking on newcrasher, and I have seen it in links before that just say something like “Check this out!” with no indication at all that it is a video. Mainly I just wanted to point out that mouseover doesn’t always work!