Slow video watching

Why does it seem lately that watching video on this site are very slow to run

It could also just be the quality of the videos uploaded is higher than before.

You mean slow to load? If you do, then it is possible you are hitting this site at a time of high traffic. This site does not benefit from the sort of infrastructure as used in a site such as Instagram, so there are times it will struggle to keep up. Just be patient or come back later.