If you don’t believe me, try going through Instagram or Facebook for even a second without seeing a short form video autoplay on your page. Short form videos have grown in popularity to the point where sites such as Linkedin and Pinterest have incorporated them into their user experiences. Videos work so well because they deliver information in a quick and easy manner, and this has generated a demand for businesses to provide video content on a regular and consistent basis. To further understand this trend, let’s go down memory lane and look at the significant events that have transpired over the last 20 years that have led to the rise of short form video.
In the early 2000s, short form video was popular.
The early 2000s saw the birth of some of today’s most popular social media platforms as well as the demise of others. MySpace debuted in 2003, followed by Facebook six months later. These social media platforms transformed the way we communicated by providing people with a global digital area to come together and share everything from family photos to relationship status. Reddit first appeared on the scene in 2005, followed by Twitter in 2006. While these online networking areas unavoidably contained the ability to watch and exchange video material, the promise of short form videos had not yet been recognised. Even when Instagram first launched in 2010, it was primarily a photo-sharing network; in fact, publishing video material was not even an option.
2013’s first short-form video apps
Fast forward to 2013, when social media saw significant changes in the way content was consumed. With one of the fastest growing apps of its time, short form video captured the attention of millions. Vine was launched in January 2013 and allows users to easily create, view, and share short looping videos from their smartphone. The only catch was that Vine videos could only be 6 seconds long. This limitation established a precedent; there was no need for high-budget effects or professionally shot footage because the purpose of these short form videos was to share a quick, funny, or entertaining video sequence. Vine enabled people with no prior experience to create unique and sometimes viral content. Other social sites took notice as this short form video app drew the attention of so many users. Facebook added the video autoplay feature, making it nearly impossible to ignore a video in your newsfeed, and Instagram added the ability to record and share videos up to 15 seconds long in June 2013.
The rise of video on social media from 2014 to 2017
Musical.ly (later to become TikTok) launched in 2014, with short form video content captivating social media users all over the world, allowing users to create short (15 second to 1 minute long), lip-syncing music videos. Short form videos had become a huge part of the social media ecosystem in just a few years, and they could be created, posted, and viewed on most platforms. Soon, influencers and even celebrities were reaping the benefits of using short form videos to connect with their audiences and grow their fan base.
Vine, the originator of true short-form video content, died in October 2016; partially due to a lack of creator support in terms of monetization or advertising options, and partially due to the limitation of 6-second videos, when other platforms allowed for a bit more time to get a story or message across through video. This was also the year Instagram launched Stories, which would become popular over the next few years.
2020 – 2022 short-form video evolution
Short-form video apps, such as TikTok and Instagram, now have over 1 billion monthly active users. In order to compete, Snapchat created Spotlight in November 2020, which showcases the most popular Snaps across its community. YouTube Shorts, a short-form video outlet that launched in March 2021 and received over 6.5 billion views in its first month, was also added.
Short-form videos have become an important part of people’s online experiences, as well as an important way to gain brand exposure and customer loyalty. When it comes to short-form videos, consistency is essential for capturing your audience’s attention. While longer-form videos produced by traditional production companies have a place in a business’s marketing spectrum, in order to stay top of mind with your customers, you need an efficient way to produce video content frequently, and short-form videos are the best way to do that.
