The Rise Of The Vertical Video
Image: Jenny Coppola
As someone who is immersed in the world of Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook Story, shooting and watching videos vertically is just like breathing; it is no longer a quirk of smartphones, its format that people genuinely love to watch.
Going viral
For the past couple of years there has been a colossal rise in the consumption of content on our phones vs our desktops.
The rise has been so astounding that Market & Growth Hacking found that video views on mobile increased more than 233% between Q3 2013 and Q3 2016 alone.
But where is the viral in vertical video?
When Snapchat came into the scene and took over our screens they popularized the vertical format among the smartphone generation: vertical videos became less weird and amature-looking. The instant disappearing videos made it more casual and accessible.
Vertical videos instantly went mainstream when Instagram introduced its own version of Snapchat (Stories). Brands took advantage of this and started Instagram Story ads; this became so successful that in August 2017 Instagram recorded 50 million daily Stories users compared to Snapchat’s 166 million.
Crowned by the public, king of Snapchat DJ Khaled also made the move to Instagram. He often uses both platforms to speak to the masses.
In June 2018, Instagram launched IG TV, giving Youtube a run for its money. By doing this, a new space was established not only for brands, but for individuals: anyone could make content. This was a marked shift in content creation and how people and brands make videos for social media.
The take over?
If you’re anything like me, it takes all of my strength and willpower to turn my phone horizontal then back to portrait mode. It annoys me. This is one of the reasons why vertical videos are effective: a study showed that smartphone users are physically holding their phones 94% of the time.
When someone is holding their phone vertically, chances are they are taking a selfie, doing a behind-the-scenes or just recording themselves. Vertical videos are more intimate - it gives the person creative control and when brands use it for advertising it humanizes them to a certain extent. The shaky cam, lens flare here and there and that loud noise that comes in halfway all help to make it authentic.
From bad memes (“Vertical Video Syndrome”) to viral trends, vertical videos have undeniably made their mark and look as if they are here to stay; so it only makes sense to keep your phone on portrait. For, as the great philosopher DJ Khaled once said, “It's all about the vibes”.