Explainer videos are dark patterns that replaced written howto documents in order to serve ads. Not seeing them pop up any more in search results is one of the few positive outcomes of Google switching to AI-first search results.
Given we can write the documents in LLMs and summarise/explain the documents with LLMs one would hope we would go back to written documents instead of videos now.
Instead we've worked out how to get the LLM to make videos.
People are bad at writing clearly what a new startup or product actually does. A video is a richer medium, it can show the thing being used, the UI during use, tell a clearer story with a person using it, some context etc. It also forces them to prioritize more, and have to distill their message down to a certain bounded timeframe.
Neither gives any guarantee. Both static text and videos can be done well and badly. But I usually find it useful to have both. A video is like being guided through their vision of what the thing is (a "push" message). This can be annoying to many nerd types who want to cut through all that and just want to "pull" the info they need, for themselves, at their own fast pace, quickly identifying it and not being spoonfed. But the typical user is not like this, and prefers the spoonfed/edutained approach.
Yes that's the trick. And much more. If you have any sort of content, you should express it as a slideshow, a white paper, a blog post, a video, a podcast, etc. Get it out in as many forms as you can. Maybe even performative dance or song if you've got that energy.
I was getting ready to rant when reading your "A video is a richer medium" line, and then read the whole thing and saw you followed up with a point explaining exactly why: "just want to "pull" the info they need, for themselves, at their own fast pace, quickly identifying it"
Needless to say, usually if my choices are video or nothing, I'll choose nothing and figure it out myself.
LastTrain · · focus · HN ↗
schnitzelstoat · · focus · HN ↗
Instead we've worked out how to get the LLM to make videos.
bonoboTP · · focus · HN ↗
Neither gives any guarantee. Both static text and videos can be done well and badly. But I usually find it useful to have both. A video is like being guided through their vision of what the thing is (a "push" message). This can be annoying to many nerd types who want to cut through all that and just want to "pull" the info they need, for themselves, at their own fast pace, quickly identifying it and not being spoonfed. But the typical user is not like this, and prefers the spoonfed/edutained approach.
ModernMech · · focus · HN ↗
Yes that's the trick. And much more. If you have any sort of content, you should express it as a slideshow, a white paper, a blog post, a video, a podcast, etc. Get it out in as many forms as you can. Maybe even performative dance or song if you've got that energy.
transitorykris · · focus · HN ↗
jghn · · focus · HN ↗
Needless to say, usually if my choices are video or nothing, I'll choose nothing and figure it out myself.