Web Trick of the Week: The Wadsworth Constant

The Wadsworth Constant:
Noun. An axiom stating that the first 30 per cent of any video can be skipped because it contains no worthwhile or interesting information. Popularised by Reddit user Wadsworth in 2011. (knowyourmeme.com)

It’s true though, isn’t it? Pretty much any how-to video begins with several minutes of some guy telling you useless information, or some makeup blogger talking about the new brushes she bought before showing you how to do your eyeliner.

&wadsworth=1

Skip the boredom by applying the Wadsworth Constant to your YouTubeing. There’s a few ways you can do this: add the string “&wadsworth=1” to the end of the URL of your YouTube video (thanks, Google engineers!), or click on the video and then tap the number three on your keyboard. Actually, tapping the numbers one through nine on your keyboard will allow you to jump to 10 per cent to 90 per cent of the way through respectively.

There you have it, procrastinators, a way to YouTube more productively!
This article first appeared in Issue 25, 2013.
Posted 2:29pm Sunday 29th September 2013 by Raquel Moss.