• by Dror Ginzberg , Op-Ed Contributor, December 9, 2015

It’s no secret that digital video is growing at an unprecedented rate. Popular platforms like Snapchat, Hulu, Netflix and YouTube are leading the charge, attracting millions of users and viewers who are consuming more video than ever before.

 In a recent report, eMarketer found that users are spending 1 hour and 55 minutes a day with digital video.

To put this in context, users are spending 1 hour and 44 minutes on social networks –yes, that includes Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Even with video’s well-documented success, those statistics are truly eye opening.

 With video’s growing dominance within media conversations, arguments are posed on a near-daily basis that video is going to eventually replace the written word altogether. 

I approach those statements from a different point of view.  As someone who has struggled with reading from a young age, and as a result, takes in most information and content via audio or visual means,  you can assume I can understand the sentiment.

 But I don't think that's the reality.

 The Internet was supposed to kill the newspaper. While the Internet has certainly had an impact on the newspaper business, the words themselves have not been killed; they’ve just been shifted to a new format.

The New York Times, Associated Press, and Reuters are all still producing incredible amounts of news content despite the fact that physical print publications are no longer their reliable main source of revenue. 

 Video is a way to drive people to this news content. It’s not a replacement for the original medium—it’s a partner to it, and one that happens to drive enormous audience share.

The important lesson to learn about the proliferation of video is that while many people are increasing their video habits, the written word isn’t going away anytime soon. Will we begin to see more and more use of video in traditional arenas where it didn’t exist before? Absolutely. At the same time, we’ll see the written word enter new spaces it hasn’t existed in before. This is something to celebrate, not to fear.