Text or video: which link are you more likely to click on?

more likely to click text

Text 100%. I'm a pretty quick reader. I have no desire to sit and watch (listen to) a 10 minute video of material that could have been an article I could read in under a minute.

Only text. I completely skip commentary videos because it usually means the speaker can't form complete sentences.

I will, however, watch things like news where it is important to hear and see the public official giving an announcement or the like, and certain informational videos that show a process where seeing it adds information -- but I still need a text description to convincing enough to get me past hesitation.

I'm specifically on Lemmy because it's text based. If I wanted videos I could use Reddit or TikTok on YouTube.

Text, and preferably with some info on why I'd want to read it. But I would consider clicking on a video link if again, you actually tell me what it's about and why I should want to watch it.

IOW, if I am given the same info about the video as I would get by quickly skimming part of an article to see if I want to spend time reading the whole thing. Seems like most links I see here have no context at all, meaning no chance I'd click it.

Even if I'm on YT and see a title and thumbnail that looks interesting, I'll right-click to open it in a new tab so the page loads in the background without starting to play. Then I can switch to that tab and see if the description and/or comments make me want to actually hit play, otherwise I close the tab.

Text because I have a limited amount of time in my life and I can scan text quickly for the interesting bits, not so with videos. Watching videos is mostly a waste of my time.

Lemmy, specifically, is meant to be a mainly text based platform that people can scroll through during short downtimes, including in public. Videos are inconvenient for that.

Text. 90% of the time I watch youtube etc is when I'm eating or trying to pass out etc

If I wanted to watch a video, I'd be on a video site. I treat this site like a forum.

On Lemmy, text for sure. I watch an inordinate amount of YouTube, but I go to YouTube to do that.

Always text. It’s much more pleasant to read information without a lot of visual and auditory noise infiltrating your senses. What is the point of having info inflected to you through some person in a video. Already have Reddit muted. Learned that a while ago haha

Yes, text for me too, for the same reason.

Definitely text. But even with those, I can usually recognize when a tweet would better capture the whole content

I don't even really like links that take me away from Lemmy. Just a body of text in a post. Or embedded photos. I don't want to go anywhere. Also, no for videos.

Text. A video link is fine, just sum it up. If I see someone post a video and nothing behind it, I assume they're just looking to drive engagement to their channel and won't engage here on Lemmy. I assume they want to engage on the platform they're posting on.

Disclaimer of bias: I run a comm on Lemmy where I've posted over 100 video links with one or more (often a lot more) paragraphs of text behind them. It's the music comm on the instance I reside on.

I'm more likely to click on a text link.

My laptop isn't paired with my headphones so I seldom watch videos on this device. The speakers are pretty terrible.

My android tablet is what I use for videos. If the video has a clear title I can search, maybe I'll do so but I need to know it will be worth my time.

Posters might be able to entice me to click an external video link if they included a short description of the video in the post's text box, but no one ever does so...

text

I will almost never click a video unless it's a natively visual thing. Like, a music video, a clip of a movie, whatever.

If it's like "you should learn more about the My Lai massacre - here's a great video" I'm just going to roll my eyes. Use your words. Embedded media is probably fine. Like an article with illustrations or video supplements. I'd much rather just read like a wikipedia article like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_massacre

Text by far but I'm also someone who prefers reading then watching from TV/Reading all the way to porn so unsure how that effects this.

Text.

I never click on videos. I want to read at my own pace but watch your 76 minute video.

Neither unless the post or comment includes a summary of the links content.

I never click on videos.

Text.

I block image and video posts in my feed.

Text. Youtube is already running in the background.

I prefer text. Videos are too distracting, especially if I am listening to music while browsing.

Text. I dont need a simple query dragged into a 20 minute video

Text. I think the answers on this kind of social media are going to skew that way.

Text because I'm usually around others and don't want to pollute their peace. Also because I can skim.

100% text

If there's a description what the video is about, then the video.

Otherwise an article, but that I open any link and not just read the comments is pretty rare. Articles also very frequently have a summary directly in the post, as is more technical to copy it from an article compared to a video.

I like text. I recognize there is a generational divide in the preference.

Text. I've barely clicked video due to similar reason as OP

I'm most likely to click on text for the same reason !

Videos are a plague. YouTube is the mother of all brainrot.

Learn to read kids, nobody is gonna put the things you need to know in a video.

I usually prefer text. It’s much easier to skim and decide quickly whether the topic is worth my time. I’ll watch a video if the topic really catches my attention.

Text.

I might open the post to see if there is a transcript in the description or comments.

Text.

Video requires too much time dedicated to consume it. If I'm looking for a specific explanation or review or walkthrough that suits a visual medium then I'll go look for a video.

But even then, for most things a text description with photos to illustrate finer details of often better anyway.

If I'm doom scrolling there is no chance I'm clicking on random videos. My volume is turned down permanently and I ain't turning it up just to hear it start off with "hey what's up guys it's some dickhead here from some shitty channel where I like to make videos about something no one cares about or is already a saturated market, anyway click on the subscribe button and them we'll go ahead and listen to a promo from a crappy mobile game who's sponsoring this video! And then I'll go ahead and tell you where to buy this item I'm holding that's tangically related, and then I'll go ahead and...."

Just obnoxious.

Same. Text. I love visual content but its so overcooked and false these days, that videos have become a chore.