The vast majority of human beings do not like to read long passages

The vast majority of human beings do not like to read long passages of test.  Any text longer than just a few lines tends to get skimmed or not read at all.  The frequent use of diagrams in place of long text descriptions makes the transfer of information from the creator to the readers more likely as long as the diagram is clear and not too complicated.  What do you think of the use of Data Flow Diagrams as a form of diagram to supplement requirements descriptions?  What are the advantages?  What are the disadvantages?  If there a better type of diagram for this purpose? 

Data Flow Diagrams are more commonly used in software and hardware design.  However, they are used in requirements descriptions, especially when the requirements being modeled present a process.  Here the arrows and actors and Data Stores have the same meanings as with design, but the ovals present required features.