Is YouTube A Substitute For Books?
One can get knowledge from YouTube nowadays instead of books. So, does that mean it has taken place of books?
The internet and the video format have taken the flow of information to its boom. Any kind of information consumed nowadays is mostly in form of videos and the culture of reading has mostly faded away. But there is a lot of information on the internet also. This is a very popular argument against book reading that I watch videos on YouTube and I learn from them.
So, we will be having look at the question, “Are YouTube videos a reasonable substitute for books?”
There Always Have Been People Who Don’t Read Books
In every era, there have always been people who do not read books. These kinds of people are not interested in actually reading books. It is actually a hard job for them to read books. So, these are the people who watch videos for the sake of knowledge. Then it is good for them. As they are getting some amount of knowledge from it. But there are a lot of people who also do not even watch videos.
YouTubers Also Get Information From Books
A YouTuber who is making an informative video then he/she is supposed to be well researched about that specific topic. In that case, they will not be doing their research on YouTube. Instead, they will go for related books that will help them get an authentic piece of knowledge.
YouTube Gives Surface Knowledge
It is rare to find in-depth knowledge on YouTube. Most of the time creates only give the surface knowledge which at first deceive people of getting very deep knowledge. While, in reality, the creator are just using some heavy jargons and terminologies to create this deception. In fact, they are not even giving any real knowledge. They are just revolving around a very basic and surface knowledge which is enough for people to be able to act smart in front of others.
The books are written after the years of research of a person so in a book there are years of struggle and research of a person about that specific topic on which the book has been written.
In books, the knowledge is usually shared openly without any hesitations. While in YouTube videos a YouTuber wants people to keep visiting their channel so they never usually talk in-depth about anything. They just go with the surface knowledge /or chunks of knowledge. This allows them to do not get their audience bored as real knowledge is hard and gets bored as compared to surface knowledge. YouTubers also go for the chunks of knowledge. Because, this is smart work for them, for it keeps their audience waiting for their next upload and this makes them earn from form the platform. It is a business strategy for them to provide information in chunks.
If Not A Substitute, Then What?
Clearly, YouTube is not a substitute for books. But still, it is a source of knowledge and information. So, we should not discard any of them. Instead, we should understand the usage and place where they are meant to be kept.
Perhaps, we should say that it is not a substitute for books, but it is another source of knowledge and this is how we should look upon it, another source of knowledge.