# Is it allowed to answer a question with a (YouTube) video?

I really like to learn math by watching YouTube videos. Especially those of the Khan Academy, here an example of a Khan Academy video.

I've been thinking of making a math video in Khan's style myself. I don't know if I would be able to make a good video, but I would like to give it a try (some day). Is it allowed to answer a question with a (YouTube) video ?

• An answer could consist of a link to a relevant resource. Depending on circumstances, some users may feel that that is not a good answer. For example the users with limited bandwidth might feel this way. This is not meant to discourage you, just to say that opinions may be divided. – user53153 Jan 7 '13 at 15:53
• You could try it out and see what people think. As far as I know, this would be the first time it's been done – davidlowryduda Jan 7 '13 at 16:35
• @mixedmath: I seem to remember youtube links given out before for answers. But this would be to my knowledge the first time a YouTube video is specifically filmed to answer a question. – Willie Wong Jan 7 '13 at 16:36
• Just a side note. Typical math videos (including khan academy) are just not upto the mark compared to typical answers on mathse. Mathematical correctness is often sacrificed in such popular videos. – Paramanand Singh Mar 31 at 3:54
• @ParamanandSingh What is a typical math video? Are the Simons Institute videos typical? What is the difference between answering a question by citing a recent preprint on arXiv and linking to the YouTube video of a recent talk? – Rodrigo de Azevedo Mar 31 at 10:40
• Being able to add videos to answers would be a cool feature to add. Like how one can add images now. Looking to the future, say, 5, 10, 20 years from now, I can see this eventually becoming standard on QA sites. – Nick Alger Mar 31 at 11:39
• I answered with a link to a YouTube video here: mathoverflow.net/a/94842/454 – GEdgar Mar 31 at 12:05

1. As long as the answer is on topic, answers the question, is not offensive, and not spam, then most users won't have a problem with you posting a YouTube Link.

2. It is perhaps better, however (since the YouTube link URLs are usually rather cryptic, and I often hesitate to click on random links on the internet), to give a little bit more than a link: say that you are linking to a video you made yourself to demonstrate the answer, and perhaps a few quick words about the methods used (to solve the problem).

3. As usual, we have no control (besides some basic vote-fraud detection system) on how users will vote in response to your proposed answer. As Pavel wrote, users may have legitimate reasons to find a video response less useful.

• What if the answer is on topic, answers the question, is not offensive, but is spam? – user53153 Jan 7 '13 at 18:07
• @PavelM: Mission accomplished. – Douglas S. Stones Jan 7 '13 at 23:50
• @PavelM Explain how an answer could be on topic, answer the question, not be offensive, AND be spam?? (I'm a little confused here...) :-) – apnorton Jan 8 '13 at 4:04

I would suggest also posting a short/abbreviated (textual) answer. If I came across an answer that was simply a YouTube video, I would skip by the answer rather than upvoting. (This is not to say I wouldn't watch the video if I asked the question--rather, if I didn't ask the question, but just stumbled upon it.)

I tend not to watch random videos. It takes longer for me to determine if a video is good/incredible (versus a total waste of my time) than to determine if a textual response is good.

That said: if there was a clear textual response that I liked, and it closed by saying, "I've explained this in [a more clear fashion]/[more detail]/[a graphical way]/[etc.] in this video (link)," I would probably follow the video link.

tl;dr: A video link by itself wouldn't attract my attention. However, if accompanied by a short/barebones answer, I would be much more interested.