Pivoting away from video.
I read this micro essay by a guy called Ewen Bell over on Mastodon the other day:
Videos yell at you. Photos invite you in for a cup of tea and
a biscuit. The minimal presence of video on Mastodon is absolutely wonderful.
When social media moved away from posting snapshots of moments, and
pushed everyone to post video, something very fundamental changed.
Photos are passive. You walk through them at your own pace. You pause to
contemplate an idea, or recall your own experience that connects to the photo.
Video in comparison will consume your attention. Especially edited video. Fast
edits. Loud edits. No time to absorb. It's aggressive and dominating.
It was one of those simple observations that make your head go ‘boing’ because it feels exactly right. Video is compelling or compulsive in a way that still imagery and text isn’t. That’s not necessarily a good thing, unless you’re monetising eyeballs.
Of course, text and still images can be compelling, but it feels like they have to have some inherent worth to be so. Video doesn’t.
I do sometimes post videos here, but I never picked up the Tik Tok bug. I’m sure if I put the app on my phone I’d be just as quickly hooked as everyone else. But I feel no need for another social media addiction.
So a text guy I remain.
Here, have some tea and biscuits. (Cookies for BillH and Jason).
"but I never picked up the Tik Tok bug".... well that's the young'ns demographic lost to you then
i got a bit sucked in to watching reels on IG there for a while and saved the best ones. That small kid who tries wasabi and looks at the phone and says "help" in a very small voice is hilarious. But it was hard trying to train the algorithm to give me what i wanted - it kept trying to push bikini clad women until it finally flicks over to comedy that looks like it isnt just fake (it'll throw a thirst trap in there every now and again but they get short thrift and disappear again until normal programming of the short form funniest home videos re establish). Ultimately though - it just gets boring and i even picked up a book the other day. A book! i haven't had time for the printed word in ages (time will tell if this trend continues and i get to finish it)