Gen 1.5x: Youngsters speeding up videos to finish them faster

Nagpur: When academician Panini Telang’s teenage son passed the smartphone and asked him to listen to an interesting lecture on YouTube, he wondered why the audio was incomprehensible. “Oh, I forgot to change it to normal speed,” replied his son Kanad. Many teenagers, like Kanad, have now shifted to watching lecture videos at minimum 1.5X speed, which saves time without compromising on the audio quality. This ‘fast-mo’ (opposite of slow motion) is now a trend, which is gaining traction rapidly among youngsters as they consume more and more online content.
“I increase the playback speed setting on YouTube to 1.5X and am very comfortable with the audio too,” said Kanad explaining how the ‘1.5X’ generation watches videos. “For majority of the videos we keep speed at 1.5 thus saving time,” he said.
Another teen, Dayanand Kalse, said shifting playback speed has multiple benefits. “Majority of speakers on YouTube unnecessarily drag the video to increase air time. Some speakers are extremely slow or pause often. Increasing the playback speed takes care of these issues without hurting the quality,” said Kalse.
TOI too listened to a video at 1.5X speed and the speech of an instructional video was perfectly comprehensible. Both Kanad and Kalse, however, stressed that they revert to ‘normal’ speed for important lecture videos, where new concepts are being taught.
Rajnikant Bondre, a parent and an academician, said the speed watching concept has in fact become ‘very common’. “I have observed my child using the technique often. My students do it too. This has not only become the new normal but it is considered as the best tool for revision of topics,” said Bondre.
Academician Anmol Badjatia agrees that higher playback speed system works when the topic is not new. “For students of Std X and above, almost 60% of the topics have been taught in lower classes. So, if the lecture is related to this part, then speed watching is fine,” she said.
Academician Sameer Phale says watching educational videos related to complex scientific concepts is not advisable. “Listening and comprehending are two different things. I believe science lectures are not ideal for higher playback speed,” said Phale.
Jagdish Agrawal, another academician, says we are now seeing an inflection point in technology and learning. “It’s like a mini-evolution happening here, where students are keeping pace with technology. They will keep increasing the rate of their ability to absorb the unlimited content available out there,” said Agrawal.
Mala Singh, a veteran in teaching psychology to varsity students, said this new normal will accelerate. She said, “After a decade or so you will find these abilities becoming better. The nervous system, neurons are making new connections faster than before, because the young generation was literally born into the digital age.”