By John Bond

Video: Watch it. Love it. Ignore it. Hate it. Dread it. Sick of it. Fear it. Resent it. You have your choice.

I have been speaking and advocating for video content for over ten years. For this blog and at annual conference I have advocated for video, so if you have heard this tune before, please give me a moment. So much is happening, I need space to update you on several topics.

• Video is becoming more AI-assisted, (like it or not) with tools that can help academic creators outline, draft, edit, and repurpose scripts faster while still needing human oversight for accuracy and ethics.
• Short-form and bite-sized clips are still on the rise, writers are increasingly using condensed video to explain one idea, one finding, or one method at a time.
• Platforms are rewarding videos that are built for multi-channel reuse, meaning one recording can be edited into a lecture clip, a social post, a teaser, and a full episode.
• Accessibility is now a core expectation, with captions, transcripts, and clearer on- screen text becoming standard for scholarly and educational video (Hooray).
• Academic video is moving toward stronger collaboration between subject experts, educators, and media creators, rather than treating video as a solo-author format.
• Video is increasingly used as a scholarly communication layer, not just promotion, which makes it useful for methods explanations, visual abstracts, and research summaries
•  There is growing attention to content authenticity, watermarking, and disclosure because AI-generated or heavily edited video can blur the line between original and altered material.
• Academic writers are expected to adapt video to different audiences, since the same content often needs a different tone for students, peers, general readers, and social platforms.
• Video is increasingly part of a broader author platform, so scholars use it alongside writing, social media, and digital identity work to build visibility and trust.

Before you dismiss these points, think about these statistics from the website, Demandsage:

“Around 82% of internet traffic will be video by 2026, with users spending an average of 100 minutes per day watching online video…Platforms like TikTok and Instagram now drive 70% higher engagement with short-form clips, while YouTube long-form videos contribute to 90% of online learning consumption.”

You are likely a deep video user for personal and work purposes. Perhaps it is time to change the format of some of your content creation. Video can be an easy fun space to play in. Give it a try.

---

John Bond is a publishing consultant at Riverwinds Consulting. He is the host of the YouTube channel “Publishing Defined.” His first novel has just been released, To the End of Reckoning, a speculative thriller. Check it out or contact him at jbond@riverwindsconsulting.com.