📘 Part 3: Video Content and Media Habits

This episode's vocabulary

All the rage (idiom) – to be very popular at a particular time. → Short video reels are all the rage on social media right now.

Current affairs (noun) – important political or social events happening in the world at the present time. → It's good to watch videos about current affairs to stay informed.

Beyond my own experience (phrase) – outside of what one has personally encountered or knows. → I can't comment on that as it's completely beyond my own experience.

Handy (adjective) – useful or convenient. → Books are handy for in-depth background research on a topic.

Viable option (phrase) – a choice that is able to be done or worth doing. → Before video, books were the only viable option for learning a new skill.

Sound advice (phrase) – sensible and reliable advice. → You can learn a lot from tutorials as long as the advice is sound.

Cater to (phrasal verb) – to provide what is wanted or needed by a particular person or group. → Some channels create content that caters to older audiences.

Novelty (noun) – the quality of being new, original, or unusual. → Younger people often enjoy the novelty of viral trends and challenges.

Crave (verb) – to have a very strong feeling of wanting something. → At that age, young people tend to crave new and exciting experiences.

Cognitive load (noun) – the amount of mental effort being used in the working memory. → Older people can often handle a higher cognitive load when watching complex documentaries.

Upheaval (noun) – a great change, especially causing or involving much difficulty, activity, or trouble. → It would take a serious societal upheaval to change these viewing habits.

Questions and Answers

Maria: What kind of videos do people in your country like to watch?

Rory: I honestly have no idea. But I guess I suppose it would be things like reels on Instagram. They're like short videos that are designed to get attention and seem to be all the rage right now. And of course, lots of people watch things related to current affairs and sport. But that seems to be more of a general thing rather than something specific to where I live.

Maria: What evidence do you have of that?

Rory: Nothing beyond my own experience really. If people are using social media in the way I do, which seems to be the norm, then it makes sense they would see similar media. In the same way, people like to be aware of what's going on. So seeing things connected to the news seems like a logical set of choices.

Maria: Which is more helpful, watching videos or reading books?

Rory: That probably depends on who you are and what you're doing. I mean, for example, if you're a university student doing a project, then books would be handy for background research and source material, but videos might help for quick demonstrations and explanations.

Maria: And has this always been true?

Rory: For as long as we've had both kinds of media to choose from, yeah. Before that though, then books would have been the only viable option. They might still be if there are no videos available on specific subject matter.

Maria: What skills can people learn from watching videos?

Rory: Oh, just about anything I'd say. They have something for everyone these days from how to cook different dishes to how to redecorate a house. As long as you're paying attention and the advice is sound and it's clear, then there's something to learn.

Maria: Can it change in the future?

Rory: Not unless some catastrophe wipes out all videos or reduces their quality. No.

Maria: Are there any differences between the videos that young people and old people like to watch?

Rory: I suppose that there probably are just because they're usually interested in different things. Older people probably prefer things which cater to the things they're familiar with, while younger people probably like videos with the novelty they tend to crave at that age. The content might also be more complex for older people since their brains are, well, generally more developed at that point so they can handle the cognitive load better.

Maria: Do you think that will also be true in the future?

Rory: Probably not, unless there's some sort of serious upheaval in human society or biology that means people function differently.

Discussion

Maria: Right, dear listener. Videos. I think today people are just hooked on watching TikTok videos. I think TikTok is the most popular one. YouTube, TikTok. And what kind of videos? Instagram videos, reels, TikTok videos. Music videos, again, like Lady Gaga videos, for example. Music videos. Short videos, right?

Rory: Yeah, it could be short videos. I don't know if longer form ones are more popular.

Maria: And you can say that reels, TikTok videos are all the rage now. All the rage are really popular, common, millions of people watch them. But then you can say that's educational videos, documentaries on YouTube, for example. And you can say like, well, based on my experience, it's just my experience, my own experience. So you could say nothing beyond my own experience. I don't know, for sure.

Rory: And I said, honestly, I have no idea when that I was guessing.

Maria: Watching videos or reading books. That depends on who you are and what you're doing. Yeah. And then you give an example, like in an essay. Yeah? You give a direct answer, then explain it, and one of the explanations is to give an example. If you are a university student, doing a project, then books are useful. Rory uses a synonym, books would be handy. Books would be useful, would be handy for your background research. No article with research, for your research, for research. But videos might help for quick demonstrations, explanations.

Rory: They do different things.

Maria: Yeah. Reading books is generally more useful for deep comprehension, so for deep understanding, for critical thinking. But videos are good for visual demonstrations. If you want some visual learning, some educational videos. And when you read books, you are active. So you are engaged in the process because you read, you read. But when you watch a video, you're passive, so you just watch.

Rory: Well, unless you're taking notes.

Maria: Or, yeah, if you take notes, then, yeah. And reading books is better for complex topics, for studies, while watching videos are good for visual, visual tutorials. For example, how to paint a wall and you just watch a YouTube video.

Rory: How to paint a wall? What?

Maria: Well, it could be that's part of decorating your home. Books used to be the only option. But now we have a lot of videos available. People can learn different skills from watching videos. So people can learn painting skills, drawing, cooking skills, driving skills perhaps.

Rory: Oh, I don't know about that.

Maria: Yeah, it's just dangerous. Maybe something simple, how to fix, I don't know, how to fix your phone, how to fix your computer, or how to fix a table.

Rory: How to fix your life.

Maria: How to fix your life, yeah, how to fix your clothes.

Rory: That would be a long video for me.

Maria: And you can say, if the advice is sound, so sound advice means good advice,

Rory: logical.

Maria: It makes sense. Yeah. When you watch a video, they give you a lot of advice. So if this advice is sound, then you can learn something from it.

Maria: Watching videos is effective. Okay? And you can learn different skills from home repairs.

Rory: Okay, like home decoration then.

Maria: Yeah, and cooking, like home repairs, cooking, yeah, very popular cooking videos, to language acquisition. So you can learn a language with the help of videos, dear listener. Yes, language skills. Or coding skills. So IT people, is it true if you are in IT, is it true that you can learn some coding from YouTube videos? Maybe. Yeah, so language skills, cooking skills, home repairs. There we go. Maybe communication skills, if you watch some videos on communication, psychology, to help you out with your own language, your native language. Young people and old people, a common question, and you should compare young people to old people. We use while. Young people, blah, blah, blah, while old people, blah, blah, blah. Young people enjoy TikTok, while old people prefer videos on television or YouTube, I don't know. What do your grandparents watch?

Rory: I don't have any grandparents.

Maria: I don't have any grandparents either.

Rory: Ah, yeah, okay.

Maria: Dear listener, just go to your grandparents, ask what videos do they watch. Maybe they watch Instagram. I don't know. Maybe they watch YouTube. Yeah, I know some old people watch YouTube. Older people prefer things which cater to what they are familiar with. So cater to...

Rory: That means they, well, they fit in with something.

Rory: Or they support something.

Rory: Yeah, they satisfy a need.

Maria: Actually like C1 word, so band eight, 8.1. Yeah, cater to is a, yeah.

Rory: Oh. Yeah.

Maria: Yeah, a good one. Yeah, for example, our podcast caters to students who want to take IELTS. And here you say like older people probably, while younger people like videos with the novelty they tend to crave at. Crave is a nice verb, which means like to want something. Crave. C2, Rory, C2.

Rory: Is it? Oh, yes. See, I'm on a roll.

Maria: You are rocking and rolling. So crave.

Rory: That just means to really want something, to satisfy a need.

Maria: To have a very strong feeling of wanting something. So I crave it. I really want it. I crave your attention. I really want this attention. Or I crave attention. I crave cake.

Rory: Or something you're addicted to.

Maria: Yeah, like you want it very, very much, but it's like you want it a lot. Okay, dear listener, it's a strong desire. Crave. Can I say, ooh, I crave crisps? Or I crave a donut?

Rory: I suppose it could be, yeah.

Maria: And the novelty. The novelty like something new. So younger people tend to crave new things. They tend to crave novelty, like something new. Older people can handle the cognitive load. So cognitive load, like a lot of information, like serious videos.

Rory: The demand placed on your brain when you're trying to think of things.

Maria: So older people can handle, can deal with the cognitive load. While younger people just enjoy short videos, short funny videos which are not serious. Dear listener, thank you very much for listening. Stay with us. Stay happy and healthy, okay? Sending you lots of love and hugs. Bye.

Rory: Bye.