The Information Advantage: Why Data Trumps Video
Efficiency and Depth Over Flash: Text-based and data-rich content often conveys information more efficiently than video. Readers can scan, search, and digest text in seconds, whereas video demands sequential viewing. Even digital news publishers have found that audiences often “don’t exactly flock to video” when seeking timely facts – the growth of online news video was largely driven by tech platforms rather than strong consumer demand . Many users simply “want the facts” without wading through a 10-minute video. This is evident in user behavior: YouTube revealed that viewers collectively save 900 years of watch time per day by playing videos at higher speeds . In fact, over 85% of the time that people adjust playback speed, it’s to watch content faster, not slower . The message is clear – when it comes to getting information, speed and clarity matter.
Searchability and Structure: Unlike video, text and structured data are easily searchable and referenceable. A text article or a well-labeled table lets you pinpoint key facts instantly, whereas finding a specific detail buried in a video can be cumbersome. This has become increasingly important as the volume of content explodes. In 2024, YouTube saw over 500 hours of video uploaded every minute, and TikTok users post an astonishing 34 million videos per day. No human can watch even a fraction of that – our ability to consume content simply cannot keep up. This imbalance leads to information overload, where our brains struggle to process the deluge, causing decision fatigue and shortened attention spans . In this context, well-organized information (think: articles, bullet points, data visualizations) stands out as an oasis of order. Structured content can be skimmed or analyzed quickly, making it more useful when one is trying to learn or make decisions rather than just be passively entertained.
The Rise of AI and Textual Interfaces: The surging popularity of AI assistants and large language models further underscores the primacy of information. Tools like ChatGPT deliver succinct answers or written narratives on demand – and people are flocking to them. ChatGPT reached 100 million users in just 2 months (the fastest uptake of any consumer app in history) , far outpacing the growth of even TikTok or Instagram. The appeal is clear: users can ask a question and get an instant, information-rich response without scrubbing through videos or paging through lengthy content. In a world where “time is money,” the ability to retrieve knowledge quickly in text form is becoming invaluable. In fields from coding to academia, communities still gravitate to Q&A forums, documentation, and knowledge bases – predominantly text-driven resources that emphasize information density. Data-rich formats (spreadsheets, charts, interactive visualizations) are also on the rise, as they allow professionals to derive insights at a glance. In short, information is becoming the currency of the digital realm – prized for its utility in decision-making and problem-solving.
Shifting Tides: How Content Consumption Is Evolving
From Passive Watching to Purposeful Reading: Although video content has boomed in the past decade, there are signs of a nuanced shift in how people consume digital media. In certain domains, consumers are gravitating back toward text and other information-centric formats. For example, amid the clickbait and endless clips on social media, the humble email newsletter has seen a renaissance. Platforms like Substack have enabled a new wave of long-form newsletters, satisfying readers’ craving for “slow, intentional” content over the noisy barrage of social feeds . Many readers (and writers) are finding joy in the depth of written stories and analyses – a more personal and substantial experience compared to the fleeting nature of timeline videos . The same goes for podcasts (audio information) accompanied by transcripts, or the boom of online courses that provide text notes alongside video lectures. These trends suggest that audiences are seeking substance and not just snackable visuals.
Content Consumption by the Numbers: Make no mistake – video is still a heavyweight in overall screen time. By 2025, an estimated 82% of all internet traffic is video , and people spend an average of 100 minutes per day watching online videos . Short-form videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram drive very high engagement (users rank them the “most engaging” type of content) . At the same time, longer videos (e.g. YouTube tutorials or documentaries) account for the majority of online learning content consumed – indicating people do turn to video for education and deep dives. However, there are hints that the video frenzy may be hitting a plateau in certain areas. A recent marketing survey noted a slight dip in the proportion of marketers using video – 89% in 2025, down from 91% the year before – suggesting a stabilization after years of rapid growth . Some marketers cite saturation and the challenge of breaking through with quality as reasons for this cooling off. Meanwhile, other formats are quietly gaining momentum. Interactive articles, data visualizations, and infographics are increasingly popular for conveying complex information quickly. (Infographics, for instance, have been shown to dramatically boost engagement and retention – one analysis found they can be 30 times more likely to be read than plain text .) In the news industry, the preference for text vs. video is also evolving. Back in 2016, a Pew Research study found that young adults (18–29) preferred reading news over watching it, contradicting many publishers’ pivot-to-video strategy at the time. Today, with an entire generation raised on YouTube and TikTok, preferences are more mixed – and tilting toward visual media for many. In the U.S., the share of adults who watch news videos weekly leapt from 55% in 2021 to 72% in 2025 , driven largely by social media feeds. Globally, younger groups (18–24) are now much more likely to prefer watching or listening to news than reading it, whereas older groups remain text-first . This generational split in content habits is a key trend: as digital natives age, the overall demand for video (especially on social platforms) has risen. Yet, it’s notable that in wealthier countries with established media (e.g. Germany, Norway, UK), significant audiences still lean toward reading . In essence, content consumption is fragmenting – video dominates entertainment and social engagement, while text and information-rich formats retain a strong hold in contexts like news, education, and professional research.
Backlash to Overload: Another observable trend is a growing fatigue with the “content tsunami.” Consumers are becoming selective about their media diet as endless streaming options and auto-playing videos compete for attention. Survey data shows that even as people watch a lot of video, they’re feeling overwhelmed by it. For instance, with streaming TV services multiplying, 41% of subscribers say they’ve canceled at least one service due to “subscription fatigue,” a sharp rise from earlier years. The rate of cord-cutters switching wholly to streaming has slowed, only growing 3% from 2024 to 2025 – an indicator that the initial frenzy of “sign up for every video platform” is hitting a limit. Many viewers complain that “all these services look the same” and that it’s difficult to discover content in a sea of algorithm-driven feeds. In response, some are turning back to curated sources of information. The resurgence of curation and quality (whether via a trusted newsletter, a community forum, or a well-researched article) is a counter-trend to the years of infinite scroll. We’re seeing a bit of a pendulum swing: after drowning in videos and posts, users appreciate the signal over the noise – concise information, expert analysis, and content that respects their time.
Video’s Golden Age and Signs of Saturation
A Brief History of the Video Boom: The past two decades have been a golden age of video content. YouTube’s launch in 2005 ushered in an era of user-generated video on a massive scale. By the 2010s, high-speed internet and smartphones made video ubiquitous – from Netflix binges to Facebook Live. Platforms like Vine (short loops), Snapchat and Instagram (Stories), and eventually TikTok (bite-sized viral clips) continually pushed video to the forefront of culture. The result: today’s internet is awash in video. Over 5 billion videos are hosted on YouTube alone, with over 500 hours of footage uploaded every minute. TikTok, which barely existed in the mid-2010s, now serves over 1 billion users and countless clips daily. Streaming services have released so many original shows that the term “Peak TV” was coined to describe the overload of scripted series available at any given time. This glut of video content was fueled by fierce competition for eyeballs – tech giants invested heavily in video features (remember the infamous “pivot to video” in media, where news sites were encouraged to produce more clips?). By the early 2020s, video dominated traffic and advertising growth.
Saturation and Consumer Fatigue: However, every boom encounters limits. There are signs that video’s explosive growth is maturing and even facing pushback. One clear signal is subscription saturation – the average consumer now juggles multiple streaming services, and many are hitting budget or attention limits. In the UK, for example, roughly 20% of streaming subscribers say “SVOD is a luxury I can live without right now,” citing cost-of-living pressures. When asked why they cancel subscriptions, a growing number report being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content and services available. It’s not just about money; it’s cognitive overload. Paradoxically, having “too much to watch” leads to frustration finding something worthwhile. This hints at a market near saturation: new video services struggle to win share unless they offer something truly unique (we’ve even seen consolidation and bundling as remedies). On social media, we see a parallel fatigue. The novelty of endless 15-second videos can wear thin – some users talk about “doom-scrolling” TikTok and emerging from the trance feeling empty of real knowledge or emotion. There’s evidence of video burnout among creators too, which in turn affects audiences (when creators take breaks due to burnout, fans consume less). And as mentioned, even marketers – who rode the video wave – are slightly dialing back, focusing on making better videos rather than just more. All these are signs that the video medium, in its current form, might be nearing a saturation point where growth in consumption is incremental rather than exponential.
Quality Over Quantity: The saturation has a silver lining: it’s forcing a conversation about quality. If the 2010s were about “more videos = more engagement,” the mid-2020s trend is “better content = sustained attention.” With so much competition, mediocre videos get lost in the shuffle, and viewers gravitate to creators or channels that consistently deliver value – be it entertainment value or informational value. This raises the bar for video content. It’s also partly why information-rich formats are seeing renewed importance. A thoughtful deep-dive interview or a data-driven explainer might not go viral like a dance video, but it builds a devoted audience who’s no longer satisfied with fluff. Even on video platforms, we see creators adding more substance: YouTubers include detailed timestamps and summaries, educational channels incorporate graphics and citations (blurring the line between video and textbook), and many videos now come with transcripts or blog post companions for accessibility and SEO. The underlying theme is that information is regaining the throne after a period where flashy video for its own sake was king.
Counterpoint – Video’s Future Is Far From Dead (It’s Evolving)
It would be a mistake to interpret “the future is not videos” as “video will vanish.” Video is an incredibly powerful medium for human communication – it engages multiple senses, tells stories, and can convey emotion and context that raw data might not. In fact, numerous statistics reinforce that video remains crucial. For instance, viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to only 10% when reading it in text. Visual and auditory cues help information stick, which is why instructional videos, documentaries, and visual storytelling are so effective at educating and persuading. Marketers report huge ROI on video: 90%+ of marketers in recent surveys say video has directly improved customer understanding of their product and led to increased sales . And consumers often expect video – around 80% of people say a short video is their preferred way to learn about a product, far outpacing text articles. These points defend that video is here to stay and will continue to be a dominant force in content.
Emerging Technologies Reinforcing Video: If anything, the definition of “video” is expanding with new technologies. Generative AI for video is on the rise – AI tools can now create short video clips from a simple text prompt, and this technology is advancing rapidly. By 2025, AI video generators have become sophisticated enough that businesses are using them to produce explainer videos with virtual avatars in dozens of languages. One leading platform, Synthesia, boasts over 1 million users creating AI-generated videos . The global AI video generation market, while still small (hundreds of millions of USD in 2023), is projected to grow exponentially (30%+ CAGR) towards 2030 . What this means is video content creation is becoming easier and cheaper – we may soon see an explosion of personalized or niche video content powered by AI, from auto-generated news summaries to synthetic training videos tailored to your company. This could reinforce video’s prevalence, as every small business or educator can produce videos without big budgets or studios.
AR/VR and Immersive Media: Beyond traditional video, the future encompasses augmented and virtual reality, which are essentially extensions of video into interactive experiences. Big tech is investing heavily here (e.g., Meta’s VR headsets, Apple’s foray into AR glasses). The number of VR users worldwide topped 170 million in 2025 , and the VR/AR market is set to grow to tens of billions of dollars in the coming years. These technologies blend information with visuals: for example, an AR headset can display information overlays in your field of view (imagine walking down the street and seeing data or directions tagged to what you’re looking at – that’s information and video merged). VR can create entirely new environments – essentially immersive videos where the user can look around and interact. As AR/VR adoption increases, we might consume even more content in visual form, but it will be contextual information embedded in those visuals. In that sense, video and information aren’t in opposition – they are converging. The “video” of the future might be a 3D simulation teaching a lesson, or a mixed-reality workspace where you manipulate data in visual form. It’s notable that 91% of businesses are either using or planning to use AR/VR tech , often to enhance training, education, and data visualization. This indicates confidence that rich media (beyond flat video) will play a key role in conveying information efficiently.
Human Preference for Visual Narratives: Finally, we shouldn’t discount human psychology. People are storytelling creatures, and video is a compelling storytelling medium. A well-crafted video can stir emotions, demonstrate processes step-by-step, or give a face to abstract ideas (through presenters or animations). For many, complex information becomes more digestible when presented visually – think of how a science documentary uses animations to explain quantum physics, or how a history video can bring the past to life more vividly than a textbook description. The future of video likely involves leveraging these strengths while addressing its current weaknesses (like poor searchability or overload). We may see better integration of metadata and chapter markers in videos to make them as navigable as a text document. We’ll also see hybrid formats: videos that come with interactive transcripts where you can search for a term and jump to that part of the video, or live AR presentations where a speaker’s video feed is accompanied by real-time data graphs floating next to them. In essence, video will continue to thrive, especially as it incorporates more information-centric features. The mediums of communication are converging – text is getting more visual (e.g., images, emojis in our messages) and video is getting more informational.
Strategic Implications for Creators, Educators, and Innovators
In a world where information is king but video remains a powerhouse, those who create content or build platforms need to adapt strategically:
- For Creators & Marketers: Focus on content quality and informational value. Audiences are increasingly savvy; a flashy video with no substance won’t hold attention. Creators should consider a multi-format approach: for example, produce engaging videos and provide a written summary or transcript for those who prefer text. This not only broadens your reach (catering to both watchers and readers) but also boosts discoverability (since text is searchable). Ensure your video titles, descriptions, and even on-screen graphics highlight the key information – don’t force viewers to watch 10 minutes for a takeaway that could be stated in 10 seconds. Also, use data to your advantage: analytics can show where viewers drop off, indicating which parts of a video are less engaging. Learn from this to pack information more tightly or break long videos into chapters. In marketing, think of video as one piece of the puzzle: support it with infographics, blog posts, or interactive tools that let interested customers dive deeper. By being an information provider (not just a video producer), you build trust and authority with your audience.
- For Thinkers & Thought Leaders: In an age of information overload, thought leadership will shine through clarity and insight. Whether you’re an academic, journalist, or industry expert, consider how you package your knowledge. Long-form essays and books remain important for deep context, but there’s also a huge appetite for concise, data-backed insights that busy people can consume quickly. This might mean doing that extra analysis to create a striking chart, or summarizing your own 50-page research paper into a 5-point infographic or a short video lecture. Embrace new platforms: hosting a live webinar or an interactive Q&A can allow a blend of video presence and information exchange with your audience. Also, given the rise of AI summarizers, make sure your message is clear in any format – if an AI or a reader skimmed just the headings of your content, would they grasp the core ideas? Strive to be the source of trusted information in your domain; people will gravitate to voices that consistently provide accurate, thoughtful analysis amid the noise. In practice, that might mean spending less effort churning out daily social videos, and more effort on periodic, well-researched pieces that can be repurposed into multiple formats (a report, an op-ed, a podcast, and a slide deck, for instance).
- For Educators & Knowledge-Sharers: Education is fundamentally about information transfer, and the lesson of our times is to meet learners where they are. Younger learners may have shorter attention spans for text and respond better to video or interactive content – but that doesn’t mean abandon the textbook. Instead, blend them. Leverage video as a tool to illustrate and engage, but also teach students how to extract information. For example, when sharing a recorded lecture, also provide structured notes or a mind map of the key concepts. Encourage the use of captions and transcripts, which not only aid accessibility but reinforce learning (students can read along or search within the video). Consider flipping the classroom: use videos for basic concept delivery (since they can be re-watched at will), and reserve class time for discussion and deeper analysis – this marries the strengths of video and face-to-face information exchange. Also, instill media literacy: part of dealing with a video-saturated world is teaching how to critically evaluate sources, discern misinformation (which can be tougher in video due to deepfakes and editing), and how to find the facts within a piece of content. The future student should be comfortable both watching a tutorial and reading a whitepaper – as an educator, aim to cultivate that dual literacy.
- For Builders & Innovators: Whether you’re building a platform, an app, or a service, the intersection of video and information is ripe for innovation. One clear opportunity is improving content discovery and curation. Users feeling overwhelmed is a problem – can your product solve it? This could mean better recommendation algorithms that prioritize quality (not just quantity of watch time), or tools that summarize videos into key points (using AI, for instance). Imagine a feature that lets a user instantly get a 1-minute highlight reel of a 30-minute video – that kind of functionality marries info efficiency with video. Another area is interactive and immersive content. AR and VR applications that overlay useful data onto the real world, or simulate scenarios for training, will be game-changers. Innovators who can seamlessly integrate structured information into visual experiences will lead the next wave. Think beyond the dichotomy of text vs. video: for example, develop ways to encode more metadata into video (chapter markers, tags for topics discussed, even on-screen text that’s readable by search engines). This will make video more transparent and navigable. Also, consider the trend of unbundling and rebundling content. Maybe the future isn’t one mega-platform for all video, but niche communities with curated libraries of content plus knowledge bases. Building ecosystems where community-curated information accompanies videos (e.g. a science video site with an attached wiki for formulas and references) could provide richer value than video alone. Lastly, with generative AI rising, tools that help creators rapidly turn an idea into a polished video (or vice versa, turn a video into an article automatically) will be in demand. Innovators should aim to break down format barriers – enable information to flow from text to video to audio fluidly, so users can consume it how they prefer in the moment.
Conclusion: Toward a Balanced, Information-First Future
“The future is not videos, but information.” This provocative idea captures a real sentiment: after an era of video overload, we’re remembering that content’s true value lies in the information and meaning it delivers, not just the medium of delivery. The coming years are likely to bring a more balanced content ecosystem. Video will continue to thrive, but it will no longer be fetishized as an end in itself – instead, video will be one vessel among many for rich information. We’ll see content strategies and platforms increasingly treat text, video, audio, and interactive graphics as complementary, not competitive. The most successful communicators (be it brands, educators, or media outlets) will be those who can seamlessly translate information across formats, ensuring that whether a person is watching, reading, or listening, they’re gaining value and not noise.
Crucially, the pendulum swing toward “information-first” thinking is a healthy correction. It means creators asking, “What is the takeaway for my audience?” before asking “How flashy is my production?” It means users demanding more than entertainment – they want insight, utility, authenticity. The digital landscape ahead will likely feature fewer gimmicky clickbait videos and more substantive explainers, tutorials, and stories – some delivered via video, yes, but backed by data and purpose. As content consumers, we are learning to balance binge-watching with focused reading or learning. As a society inundated with media, we’re developing a sharper filter for quality.
In summary, the future will not abandon video, but it will certainly elevate information. We’re moving into an era where knowledge is power (and a competitive advantage) in the content world. Videos that inform will outperform videos that merely entertain. Text that engages will hold its own alongside multimedia. The innovators will be those who blend the visceral impact of video with the clarity of well-structured information. The overarching trend is clear: content is converging towards delivering true value – and value lives in information. The smartest players in the next decade’s media environment will be those who keep their eyes on that prize, crafting experiences that enlighten and empower, not just amuse.
Bottom line: We’re headed for a future where content success isn’t measured just in views or clicks, but in how effectively it delivers information and insight. And in that future, those who champion clarity, accuracy, and depth – whatever the format – will lead the way.