Most editing tips online are useless if you don’t know when to use them. Here’s why I ignore most of them, and why you should too.
We are surrounded by EDITING ADVICE on the internet. Everyone has a list of things you MUST DO and MUST NOT DO, but I ignore most of them.
Now, I am not saying they all are useless. There’s brilliant stuff out there, but the problem isn’t the existence of advice; it’s the volume, the lack of context, the endless stream of commands from people who don’t even know what kind of videos you’re trying to make.
Most editing advice you see online is one-size-fits-all, but the problem is that editing isn’t one-size-fits-all.
A tip that makes perfect sense in a cinematic short film can completely ruin the feel of a YouTube vlog. A rule designed for narrative storytelling might be useless when editing a music video. And something that works brilliantly for Instagram stories or shorts could completely destroy retention on long-form YouTube videos.
The reason I ignore most editing advice isn’t because I know better; it’s because most of the advice I see online does not care about my context, and it doesn’t care about your context either.
So many of the tips floating around are not based on principles; they are based on personal preferences.
Some would say, “Don’t use Zoom Transitions, they’re cringe or maybe too fancy“.
But WHY?
Maybe they are cringey or fancy if you overuse them, maybe they don’t work in certain styles. But if your video has high energy, fast pacing, and punchy cuts, a quick zoom can add so much momentum.
What I have realized is that most editing advice online isn’t wrong; it’s just incomplete and lacks flexibility.
It assumes that what works for one kind of content will automatically work for all, but that’s not how editing works. Editing is about knowing when to follow a rule and when to break it without any hesitation.
And I get it, when you are starting out, you want guidance. You want someone to show you the right way, but to be honest, there isn’t one.
There’s no universal “CORRECT” method in video editing; there are only patterns and frameworks that are constantly evolving.
The type of content that worked 5 years ago on YouTube will probably not work today, and what works today may feel outdated next year.
The speed at which editing trends change is wild. What used to be called BAD EDITING has now become a stylistic choice. For example, JUMP CUTS were once considered sloppy and amateurish, but are now a standard practice on YouTube.
Also see: 3 Video Editing Tricks To Hide Jump Cuts
And let’s be honest for a second: half the time, you don’t even know who’s giving you this advice. Is it coming from someone who actually edits for a living or someone who only makes tutorials and talks about editing because it gets views and followers?
Again, there is nothing wrong with tutorials. Some of the best knowledge out there comes from educators, but the editing world is filled with people who haven’t touched a real client project in years.
They are just really good at talking about editing, and again, that doesn’t make their advice bad, but it does mean you should not accept it blindly, because what works on their timeline might not work on yours.
So, what do I do? Well, I still watch those “TOP 10 EDITING TIPS” videos, but instead of blindly applying them, I test them. I treat every tip as an experiment.
If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, I drop it and move on. THAT’S IT.
If your viewer is engaged, if your story flows, if your video holds attention, then congratulations, you did it right. Even if you used a jump cut, or a zoom transition, or broke some golden editing rule you saw on a Reddit thread.
So yes, I ignore most editing advice online. Not because I think I know better, but because I’ve learned that most of that advice was never meant for me, or my audience, or the kind of videos I want to create.
And if you’re tired of trying to memorize 100 editing rules and just want to make stuff that works, maybe you should start ignoring more advice, too.