This has been my experience as well. In that introductory period when you're first dipping your toes into a new topic I think youtube videos are great at getting you introduced to the vocabulary you're going to need to pick up. Sometimes a new topic can seem much more complex than it really is because there's a lot of unfamiliar terms being used and not because of the actual complexity of topic. Youtube is a pretty gentle way of getting familiar with the lingo so that you have an understanding of what exactly it is you don't know, and what to search to figure it out on your own.

There are some videos that are useful on an even higher level because they cause you to question your way of thinking on a subject. Rich Hickey's talks were like this for me and I think the video format really was the best for that. Some people are just really talented orators and things wouldn't translate as well to text only.