Designing the Web for Vertical Video (Short-Form Content)

Topics & Timestamps

The Rise of Vertical Video & Short-Form Content | 00:01:40

• Short-form content has taken off in recent years with the rise of TikTok
  - Has spawned competitors like Instagram Reels and YT Shorts
  - Short-form content has taken up a vertical aspect ratio (portrait) in these offerings
• Max video length per service (as of writing)
  - YT Shorts | 60 seconds
  - Instagram Reels | 90 seconds
  - TikTok | 10 minutes
• Predecessors (Services, communities, and features that we believe contributed to the rise of TikTok, Reels, and Shorts)
  - YouTube Haiku's & short videos
  - Stories (on Instagram...and then everything else)
  - Active communities for video memes and YouTube Haikus (ie on Reddit)
  - Vine (6 second videos)
  - StumbleUpon (shows random, or slightly guided, content from the web - including websites, videos, etc.)
• Boiling down these predecessors to today
  - YouTube videos lend themselves more to longer form content and so the player is more cumbersome to “load up”
  - The 6 second limit of Vine was great for skits and comedy, but arguably any content of “more substance” (ie coding tutorials) couldn’t make the cut
  - StumbleUpon mastered the “For You” before we had a “For You” but sadly the internet speeds and website performance of the day put a damper on it’s instantaneity
  - Reddit is great for curating the sea of YouTube videos into one category (ie Haiku) but the instantaneity is hurt because you’re linking to outside services

Short-Form Content Features (as of today)| 00:15:26

• Random & Direct
  - Feed the viewer new content indefinitely via an algorithm that delivers content the viewer will most likely want to see
  - Topics vary wildly from educational, video games, true crime, etc.
  - Does anyone use the "following" tab over the algorithmic feeds (ie For You)
  - Instagram's default feed went from people you followed, to adding "suggested" content you may like
  - Twitter has recently updated to a "For You" algorithmic feed and a "Following" feed
• Use of Sound & Text
  - "moving memes" where the text accompanies a video (and not just a text + photo combo)
  - Recognizable sound bites from popular songs, or other media
• Instant responses
  - Instantly respond with traditional text comments and/or video responses to clarify things, or address particular comments
  
• Vertical Video
  - Smartphones are typically held in portrait form factor, so vertical video dominates
• Swipe for more - one quick action!
  - No longer search a sea of videos to watch, then click into it and watch it, followed by backing out and searching the feed again
  - Videos play instantly, when you swipe another video is already playing immediately - this is a less cumbersome process and gets you into someone's content instantly rather than you making a decision on the YouTube home (for example) on what video you want to watch at that time
• Structure & Recall
  - Stories were limited by time (ie 24 hours) and then they'd disappear, this made this content hard to save for later - or bring back up if you wanted to share it
  - Short-form content now has a lot of ways to share for later and multiple ways to share (ie download a TikTok video, bookmark videos and sort into different lists, liked feeds that show what you've liked, watch history feeds)

Escaping the Smartphone (Vertical Video/Short-Form Content on the Web) | 00:47:16

• TikTok's website (tiktok.com)
  - Plays content right away (even if not logged in)
  - Content auto plays as it comes into the viewport
  - Lots of whitespace around the video with the controls (like, bookmark, etc.) placed in this whitespace rather than overlayed over the video like it is on the phone
  - The lack of a fullscreen experience is a bit jarring for some, with a lot of the screen "wasted" since most monitors are landscape and not portrait
• YouTube (youtube.com)
  - They still focus on their longer form content (shorts don't load straight away)
  - Easily accessible "Shorts" tab from the navigation menu
  - Opens and autoplays videos similar to TikTok's website
  - Videos do take up more space vertically (less whitespace) than TikTok in our experience
• Instagram (instagram.com)
  - We get the impression that Instagram would prefer you use their mobile app
  - There is a web app offering and a Windows app, however
  - When you're not logged in you can view some content, before they want you to log in
  - When you're logged in, the web app becomes more fully-featured (can't upload content)

Debate on Short-Form/Vertical Video & The Web | 00:51:41

• There's a lot of screen real estate left open on desktop monitors when watching short-form content
• Will TV's start to adapt to vertical and horizontal videos (ie this niche Samsung TV)
• Keeping content short and sweet for sales