1) Efficiency: When a poster takes 2 minutes to write a couple of paragraphs summarizing the video it saves hundreds of people minutes of time which multiply out to hours. Two minutes to gain hours for others is a good expenditure of time.
2) It takes a lot more time to evaluate a video than the seconds it takes to read a summary. It often takes a few minutes or at least a minute to get a sense of where the video is going and how it is going to make its points. If a person would prefer a documentary approach, they will switch off a rant after a minute or so. But that is a minute lost and when you consider hundreds of viewers that is a lot of time wasted.
3) Most people will not invest 30 minutes to watch a 30 minute video when they can read the summary.
4) If the video is any good, then a decent summary will actually convince more people to invest time watching.
5) If the poster can't be bothered to write a couple of informative paragraphs, then I almost always skip over the video. It certainly didn't inspire the poster so I have little expectation it would inspire me.
6) Not all DU members are perfectly able. Some can't see or can't see well and might use talking browsers. Others can't hear.
7) Reading (and skimming) is very efficient compared to video.
8) Video is very time consuming compared to reading. Time yourself reading a newspaper article. Then time yourself speaking it out loud.
9) There may be a bridgeable generation gap. More seasoned DU members (older members) are not as used to or as demanding for videos for their information. Post a good summary along with the video and you reach everybody: vid fans, readers, deaf, and visually impaired.
10) Even so, there are some times when images and moving images inform people in depth better or more efficiently than a written word. Or when an experience is as important as the information. If that is the case for the video, make the case!
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