I want to do something with all the yo-yos that I’ve been buying that doesn’t feel like a complete indulgence so I think I’m gonna review everything in my collection. Do people generally prefer written reviews or videos (probably around 5-7 minutes)?
Honestly, depends on how good the video is. Some video reviews are… less then ideal. Weather it be due to the person not speaking clearly or getting not getting their thoughts across or the filming/ editing is just bad or if there’s no structure to the video. Then there’s people like gingie where his video reviews are so good, even if i have zero interest in the yoyo, i’ll listen to the video at work and then actually watch with my eyes, a second time and maybe even a 3rd time when i go to sleep. (Yeah, i’ve done that, he as a nice voice)
Written reviews are generally awesome because it’s just the info you need and that’s it. Buuut if i have no interest in the yoyo… i ain’t reading it.
video form is in general more appealing.
The quality of either form depends largely on the knowledge of the creator, also where you are gonna post, a video oriented platform or a forum
Gingie after reading that people falling asleep to his videos:
Written summary with a video.
Qualify yourself, skill level, preferences, goal of the review, how you got the product, relationship with the brand.
In principle I think video reviews are better when done well. The format allows you to more easily show the shape of the yo-yo, the packaging, and to make comparisons to other yo-yos (eg you could put the Klondike and Plasma Crash side by side to show how one has rounded metal weight rings while the other’s are flat).
In practice I find video reviews to usually be be less detailed, not as well formatted and very rambly due to a lack of scripting (good videos are also inherently harder to do well and involve more different skills than a written review). Video reviews are often also more effort to engage with initially than a written review.
If you’re going to do lots of reviews for your yo-yos, I think you’ll be better off doing written ones. It would be a lot less effort for you than making lots of video reviews and you can reuse a lot of the formatting between reviews.
Written because YouTube is blocked on my phone
I personally prefer written reviews. I am in general more of a reader than a video-consumer, so that probably plays a part for me. Overall I find that written reviews tend to be a bit tighter and get to the point quicker than video reviews.
Whichever format you you choose however, make sure that you use some kind of consistent judging system that goes into detail about the play characteristics of what you’re reviewing. Both Gingie’s reviews and Cake’s string reviews are excellent examples of this. My biggest pet-peeve for a review is when I’m trying to research a new yoyo and the only review I can find pretty much just says “yeah this yoyo is super stable, super smooth, and spins a long time…” which is true of pretty much all yoyos released in the past 10 years.
Also, know your perspective - what is it about you as a player that makes your insight valuable? Are you a successful competitor? Are you trying to be? Are you more of a collector? Knowing your angle will allow you to be more focused when writing.
Sorry that’s a little more extensive than your initial question but that’s what I personally find useful in a good review.
Both mediums have their advantages, as has been pointed out in other comments. A lot of your choice might come down to playing to your personal strong suits. In other words, do you find that you’re most capable to convey information of this nature better in words, or do you feel more comfortable in a spoken, video production format?
I prefer well written text reviews.
It’d be nice if their were short form reviews that covered the specs and told how the yoyo plays in a scripted, direct, less rambly way.
There are already a handful of channels doing long winded video reviews giving the whole creation story of the yoyo, maybe a short history of the brand, doing and in depth unboxing, and finally half way through the 10-15 minute video they give their first throw impressions, which without fail is that the yoyo is amazing, great spin time, great stability, can go fast, “handles everything you can throw at it.” Etc…
You could even do 2 shorts per yoyo, for those that like unboxings, double dipping for channel views.