Facebook claims that the written word is dying

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Welcome back. I missed you.

I had a three-day holiday (Sabbath +2-day Shavuot) and assorted travel days.

It is good to be back. And now I have to catch up on everything...

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by crich70

I'm sure there were those who felt that writing itself was doomed when the printing press came about. In the middle ages when few could read churches would have pictures painted on the walls to illustrate parts of the Bible. It didn't make more people illiterate. It just helped those who couldn't read to get a sense of their world. People write fewer letters on paper now (to the post office's regret) but people do still write letters. They are sent via email instead. Technology changes over time but the need for communication means that writing isn't dying any time soon.

Not sure what you are trying to say with this.

Has anyone implied that writing words in a computer program rather than on paper (or hand-illuminated vellum) is killing the written word?
The OP referred to "Facebook makes a claim that text is disappearing".

NOT:
"Facebook makes a claim that printed text is disappearing".

...

Pictures on the walls of churches is a very good example of "people were illiterate". Granted, it was the effect rather than the cause, but AFAIK you are the only one who suggested that anyone might think it was the other way around.

More pictures don't hurt (and didn't hurt the churches, I suppose). Pictures replacing words does hurt. Especially when that change is in the primary method of communication these days.
Not that I see any such change happening, outside limited and foregone spheres of influence.

[Jessica Lares]

Here is the article:
http://qz.com/706461/facebook-is-pre...-written-word/

They think video will eventually be king. It won't.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

Here is the article:
http://qz.com/706461/facebook-is-pre...-written-word/.

Thanks. A cursory glance at the article shows that this entire conversation is moot anyway (as is usually the case ).

Facebook is predicting the end of the written word on its platform.

In five years time Facebook “will be definitely mobile, it will be probably all video,” said Nicola Mendelsohn, who heads up Facebook’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, at a conference in London this morning. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, has already noted that video will be more and more important for the platform.

Mendelsohn took it farther than Facebook, but I have reservations about a "Head of Facebook's operations in Europe" 's qualifications for predicting the end of the written word.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Thanks. A cursory glance at the article shows that this entire conversation is moot anyway (as is usually the case ).

Wow.
And in a particularly egregious way, too!

...

I am fairly sure I am not the only one in this very thread who isn't enamored of the internetty trend of turning everything into a video as though it communicates important information better.
E.g. with few exceptions, most YouTube guides are inferior to written guides. And the exceptions are regarding things that have a very specific and central visual component to begin with.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

E.g. with few exceptions, most YouTube guides are inferior to written guides. And the exceptions are regarding things that have a very specific and central visual component to begin with.

The problem I have with most Youtube guides is that they invariably take too long to get to the point. That, and the fact that their "stars" tend to like the sound of their own voice more than anyone else possibly could.

I've learned to exhaust all possible internet resources in search of good set of instructions before settling for a Youtube "instructional" video. The worst is computer "how-to" videos. I need two sentences to get me going, not a thirty minute sophomoric video production that touches on my issue at the twenty-eight minute mark.

Skimming words for specifics is vastly easier than skimming videos for them.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Wow.
And in a particularly egregious way, too!

...

I am fairly sure I am not the only one in this very thread who isn't enamored of the internetty trend of turning everything into a video as though it communicates important information better.
E.g. with few exceptions, most YouTube guides are inferior to written guides. And the exceptions are regarding things that have a very specific and central visual component to begin with.

I had occasion the other day to actually need pictures to convey an idea. But that was for showing how a product worked.
I usually like written instructions too.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Some people are idiots, and some are not. Joining or quitting Facebook doesn't generally de-smarten or un-idiot anyone.

It can feel that way sometimes, though, after the umphteenth 'canned wisdom' shared post

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

It can feel that way sometimes, though, after the umphteenth 'canned wisdom' shared post

That's certainly true enough (and why I only check my Facebook page about once a month).

[Cyberman tM]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

E.g. with few exceptions, most YouTube guides are inferior to written guides.

At least on Youtube it's amateurs doing it (more or less) for fun.
I've recently had the joy of listening/viewing an online "course" where the video was probably made in one take - showing the screen and the person, talking/typing/working at the same time.
Obvious result: stuttering, misreading lines, having to restart a sentence multiple times.
Granted, it's a free course. But I've seen better quality on YT - from people who are independent, and not part of a huge company...

On Topic:
Meh, I'm sure sooner or later people will realize that the future is MULTImedial - i.e. have TEXT accompanying the video, so you can skip it and perhaps skip to the relevant portions.

Problem with that is, it requires FAST and reliable internet connections.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Cyberman tM

At least on Youtube it's amateurs doing it (more or less) for fun.
I've recently had the joy of listening/viewing an online "course" where the video was probably made in one take - showing the screen and the person, talking/typing/working at the same time.
Obvious result: stuttering, misreading lines, having to restart a sentence multiple times.
Granted, it's a free course. But I've seen better quality on YT - from people who are independent, and not part of a huge company...

Oh, that's just the usual "motivated amateurs do it better than the professionals".

On Topic:
Meh, I'm sure sooner or later people will realize that the future is MULTImedial - i.e. have TEXT accompanying the video, so you can skip it and perhaps skip to the relevant portions.

I don't know. I mean, obviously I want that day to come. But I am pretty sure "multimedia!!!" is just an excuse, not an actual goal of theirs.

They want video, and "multimedia" is simply the excuse they use.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I am fairly sure I am not the only one in this very thread who isn't enamored of the internetty trend of turning everything into a video as though it communicates important information better.

This trend has an ancestor with a weak bladder; lots of Pee 's over there: Powerpoint presentations

E.g. with few exceptions, most YouTube guides are inferior to written guides. And the exceptions are regarding things that have a very specific and central visual component to begin with.

TyingItAllTogether a channel specialized on knots is a good example of that: hands and cords in motion, well presented.

[Barty]

Facebook is also telling publishers to put their content on Facebook if they want anybody to read them.

I guess the message here is: you have no future, but give us a cut and we can prolong your death.

[Logseman]

IRC and SMS, two old, crappy and limited protocols are still in use every single day by tens of millions. Sometimes you just need no more than the written word.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Are we at a point where our grandchildren won't be literate? Facebook makes a claim that text is disappearing. I guess they have some hard facts to make such a claim, and even if it will take up forward five or eight generations, will new technology come with illiteracy as a consequence? Please discuss. (Makes me feel like I'm in a pulpit.)

Twitter is to communications as haiku is to literature.

Good grief, do Facebook aficionados consider that people use their platform to say something meaningful.

Jerks ......