First of all, this isn't a political vlog. Just getting that out of the way. Instead, this vlog is more of a "meta" vlog, where I'll explain why I decided to structure this "Snark Bait" vlog the way I did.

Recently, a hearing person asked me why I don't add subtitles to my videos. While they did have a good point in that adding subtitles would improve accessibility to hearing people and broaden my audience, and I did consider that, I ultimately decided not to do that.

I have two primary reasons for doing so. The first is time. Based on my experience editing and working on my other vlogs, I've noticed that it typically takes about an hour to subtitle 5 minutes' worth of ASL. Most of my vlogs tend to be 5-10 minutes long, so that's an additional hour or two for each vlog. I just don't have the time to do that anymore. For a five-minutes ASL video, I've noticed that it usually takes me about 10-15 minutes to type it up, which is a lot faster than an hour. And frankly, I didn't really notice a significant increase in the viewership when I subtitled my videos, so ...

The second reason is this -- ASL and English are two completely different languages. I find it a lot easier to simply do my video in ASL first, and to get my thoughts out purely in ASL. Then once I've done that, I can switch gears, turn on my "English brain," and type out my thoughts completely in English.

When I did subtitles, I found myself often trying to force the English to "match" my ASL, which degraded the English aspect. I'm good in ASL. I'm good in English. I'm not saying I'm incredible in either, but I do have the ability to express myself well in both languages. Typing out my message in English instead of using subtitles allows me to better express my thoughts and intentions that way. I feel like my point is much more precise and impactful that way.

When I think in ASL, and when I think in English, my brain processes information differently in these languages. Although the basic core is the same in both versions, there are some ASL concepts that just doesn't translate well into English (and vice versa). So doing them separately allows both languages to better showcase their strengths. So if you want to get the full benefit of my vlogs ... be able to understand both ASL and English!

I hope this answers any questions you might've had. Until next time ...

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   ReplyTo:   Snark Bait