What's your opinion on video only stories on news websites?

[sparky_1]

@Jman

They drive me up a wall. There’s an interesting story I want to read while browsing CNN or something, and I click, and it’s video only. I didn’t come to watch video streams of the TV show, I came to read a story. I am perfectly fine if there’s the video segment of a story, as long as there’s at least a short summary of the news accompanying it. I read news at lunch and in the mornings…often in places where it isn’t feasible to crank up the volume on my phone or tablet and listen and watch a video clip. Frustrating.

That really annoys me, too. News is something that works great in print, vs expending the extra time to watch a video.

CNN is terrible with it.

[TreacherousCretin]

@RandMcnally

The only time I’ll actually watch the video is if it’s the Onion. Other than that I immediately close out of it and find a written article.

Same here.

[Doug_K]

I also hate video only news stories, and that goes double for video “tutorials”. Especially when they’re done by some wet behind the ears kid who ums and ers through the whole thing and only kind of sort of knows how the software works, so he just randomly clicks menu items until he finds the right one.

“O.K. um…in this uh tutoral um uh I’m [unintelligible] layer in Gump – Gimp. First you uh click uh [click pause click pause click] oh yeah Tools and uh then [looks off camera, whispers] What? Oh yeah just press control L to get the um layer menu then [long pause while layers menu moves around in circles] [mumble] plus butt— no uh the uh picture of um a memory card? Oh, I guess it’s um sposed to be a piece of uh paper. Anyway, click that.”

[Pai325]

I hate them. I can read and find out what I want so much quicker.

[Amateur_Barbarian]

@Doug_K

I also hate video only news stories, and that goes double for video “tutorials”. Especially when they’re done by some wet behind the ears kid who ums and ers through the whole thing and only kind of sort of knows how the software works, so he just randomly clicks menu items until he finds the right one.

This, in spades. It’s gotten so that you can’t find a simple five-step how-to on anything, but have to sit through a crappy video version of it. Your transcription nailed it, unfortunately. The one thing you missed is that on top of all the fumbling, they do the operations so fast you can’t see what they’re doing unless you watch it several times, hitting pause/play repeatedly.

[filmore]

Hate it. I close it right away. Plus, at the front will be a 30-second commercial for a 1 minute story. Rarely is the story worth sitting through a commercial half as long as the story.

[The_Devil_s_Grandmother]

hatehatehate. When I am emperor of the universe such abominations will no longer exist.

[BigT]

Hate is too strong a word, but I do avoid them. The reason I don’t hate them is that they usually aren’t that important. What I really hate are articles that do have the text, but leave out any necessary images, making you have to watch the video, which always has the same words as the article.

[ThelmaLou]

@Saraya

Sign of the times ; we’re just too lazy to read - even if it’s something that interests us.

@Thudlow_Boink

Hate, hate, hate. Makes me reach for the little X in the corner.No, I’m too lazy (if that’s the right word for it) for video stories. Show me a written article and I can get the point of it in 5 seconds (especially if it has an appropriate headline) and decide how much more time I want to spend learning the details.

I agree with TB. Reading is much easier and faster. Waiting for the video to load, then there’s the ad, then the lengthy telling of a story I could read in 20 seconds. And what about if you’re someplace where you either can’t have the sound on or can’t hear the sound because of background noise?

If there has to be video, then at least have a summary of the story to read so I can decide whether to bother with the video.

[Rachellelogram]

Give me text or give me death. The Onion is frequently guilty of this, as well as Cracked. No fuckin’ thanks!

[Yarster]

I have to agree that this is just a ploy to watch an advertisement. My wife insists on keeping AOL, and their news stories are ALWAYS this crap. Yet another reason to drop them, although it seems more than half the stories on CNN are this format as well now.

Unless it is a story that requires video, at least offer text with it, or else I’m not interested…