I do think the publishing medium is relevant and not just word count. Books tend to be better researched, edited, triple checked and well planned out to convey the full information they want to. This isn't always the case but there's an inherent push in this direction when you're publishing a book under your name that you want it to be good.
On the other end of the spectrum we have social media posts which are anything but.
That is correct and important, but does any part of that not apply to the only manual?