Who remembers Vine? Actually, a better question would probably be, who doesn’t remember Vine?!
Vine was the original short-form video offering that quite frankly took the world by storm, so much so that Twitter acquired the platform just four months after it launched for a whopping $30,000,000.
Without even realising it back then, Vine set the wheels in motion for a smorgasbord of short-form video and now, fast forward ten years, we find ourselves with so many to choose from. In this blog we look at the industry’s big hitters.
Instagram Reels
Instagram introduced Reels back in 2020, and while Meta never admitted it outright, it was a clear knee-jerk reaction to the glowing popularity of TikTok (which we’ll come to later). When Reels launched it allowed videos of up to 15 seconds, since then it has undergone an array of duration changes and you can now enjoy Reels, organic that is, for a full 90 secs – ads have a maximum running length of 60 seconds.
There’s no denying that Reels has been a success. In August 2021 Instagram for Business reported that 91% of recently surveyed active Instagram users said they watch videos on Instagram at least once a week, and not only that, over the past year Reels have become the platform’s fastest-growing feature worldwide, a record previously held by Stories.
TikTok
The short-form video platform that needs no introduction. TikTok launched in China in September 2016 before going global the following year. Now, five years on, the platform boasts a very respectful 1 billion monthly active users, behind only Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, who have of course been around a lot longer.
Now, the clever thing about TikTok is that pesky algorithm, not only will it suck you in and have you watching videos for hours on end, it’s also an algorithm that does not base recommendations on follower count or on a history of previous high-performing videos. This of course means that any person or brand can go from rags to riches within the blink of an eye.
What’s also appealing is that TikTok will never duplicate content and show you videos which you’ve already seen. Cool right?
YouTube Shorts
When talking about video YouTube is never too far away. Rightly so, too – it’s the OG of online video sharing.
YouTube began the rollout of its short-form video alternative, Shorts, in March 2021. It allows users to create videos of no longer than 60 seconds straight from their mobile phones and since launching it has accumulated over five trillion views. FIVE TRILLION!
The power of Shorts boils down to the fact that it sits on the colossus that is YouTube, the second largest search engine in the world, behind Google, its parent company. YouTube also offers a functionality which people just get. People understand YouTube and are comfortable with it. Over its 17-year existence the website has amassed an army of adoring fans who became ambassadors for Shorts from the offset.
People power ay?!
Want to learn more about how short-form video can be used in your own content strategy? Get in touch.
