Noting that I had a really intense negative emotional reaction to this video. It's possible that I'm just not your target audience, and certainly the depth of response felt... disproportionate, but I thought I might share my reaction in case it was useful to you.
I think there was a combination of things that straight away disposed me negatively towards it - the negative title (stop X!), the negative introduction (stop x, again) and also the camera being so close to your face. It had the effect of feeling like I was being simultaneously negged and mansplained to by some overly aggressive dude (no doubt more an artifact of my own life experiences more than the video. Stop telling me what to do, Dad.). It felt very you-tube, but like, the uglier parts. I stopped watching pretty quickly.
Glancing at your profile, it seems like you have a number of videos titled "Stop X". I'm noting here that you describe this video as "a video on what to say while writing code." There's a clear value prop there: What to say when writing code! But it doesn't exactly come through in the first exposure to the video. I'd watch a video on "what to say while writing code" because I have my own opinions on it, and am interested in comparing my mental model with someone else who's spent time thinking about good communication in a coding context. Feeling scolded by said video made it a solid pass.
I think I read something purporting to be research about how closeup pictures on faces tend to elicit stronger emotional reactions.
I did like that you were modeling perspective taking - "your interviewer is a programmer who can read your code." Building a capable theory of mind is long term work, and it's work that people who are drawn to computers often don't do.
Anyways, thanks for sharing it, and taking the time to make those videos. It seems like a worthy project.
I think there was a combination of things that straight away disposed me negatively towards it - the negative title (stop X!), the negative introduction (stop x, again) and also the camera being so close to your face. It had the effect of feeling like I was being simultaneously negged and mansplained to by some overly aggressive dude (no doubt more an artifact of my own life experiences more than the video. Stop telling me what to do, Dad.). It felt very you-tube, but like, the uglier parts. I stopped watching pretty quickly.
Glancing at your profile, it seems like you have a number of videos titled "Stop X". I'm noting here that you describe this video as "a video on what to say while writing code." There's a clear value prop there: What to say when writing code! But it doesn't exactly come through in the first exposure to the video. I'd watch a video on "what to say while writing code" because I have my own opinions on it, and am interested in comparing my mental model with someone else who's spent time thinking about good communication in a coding context. Feeling scolded by said video made it a solid pass.
I think I read something purporting to be research about how closeup pictures on faces tend to elicit stronger emotional reactions.
I did like that you were modeling perspective taking - "your interviewer is a programmer who can read your code." Building a capable theory of mind is long term work, and it's work that people who are drawn to computers often don't do.
Anyways, thanks for sharing it, and taking the time to make those videos. It seems like a worthy project.