What do you think videos will look like on social media this year? Although it is still early days, there are already several trends that are shaping them – and look to continue to do so.
The presence of videos on social media keeps growing and shows no sign of abatement, however the form that those videos take is changing.
In particular there are four trends that seem to be having a big impact on the landscape and are likely to define how it looks throughout 2018 and beyond.
Live video streams
Ever since Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social networks jumped on board the live stream train it has quickly become the biggest video trend on social media.
Content creators have flocked to it due to the extremely high engagement levels that it provides as well as the opportunity to publish new types of content.
Safe to say you can expect live video content to continue to grow over the course of this year as more and more brands jump on board.
Additionally as mobile devices have become better and more capable, more average Joe’s are starting to stream and share their own content that will grow the form further.
Regular shows
In tandem with the rise of live video, a new type of content has started to gain ground on social media: regular shows. The reason this trend is interesting is because it tends to go against the grain of normal social media videos and consists of longer and more scripted content.
More importantly people seem to be responding to it; and video series are already drawing higher engagement levels on Facebook and other social media platforms.
While it is unlikely that social media will start to compete with Netflix with full-fledged TV-style shows, you will probably see an uptick in regular broadcasts of talk shows, video casts, and serialised content.
If successful it may start to expand range of mid-length content that is available on social media, and gradually steer it away from the current ‘bite-sized’ video trend.
Silent revolution
Did you know that the majority of people watching videos on Facebook right now are doing so with the volume turned down? It is a growing trend that is partly due to the practice of muting a video until it is clicked, but also because a large chunk of viewers seem to prefer keeping the volume on mute.
It should come as no surprise that this trend has had an impact on most videos, as creators start to rely on more visual methods of conveying information.
As this trend continues you can expect to see more videos that use subtitles, creative captions, or other strong visuals to attract attention and interest viewers.
360 degree video and virtual reality
Both 360 degree videos and Virtual Reality (VR) are closely linked, but the former has started to outpace the latter and grow more quickly.
Its main limitation to date has been the fact that producing 360 degree content was not easy, and required complicated rigs or expensive cameras.
Recently that has started to change, as more affordable and user-friendly ways of recording 360 degree video have started to surface. Whether it will make a big impact on the social media landscape remains to be seen – but if VR starts to become more popular, it is likely to definitely do so.
Whether you’re creating video content using a camera or video recorder for PC, being aware of these trends could give you an edge.
Already many of them are proving to have higher levels of engagement than regular videos, and it makes sense to dip your toes in and give them a try.
At the same time you should constantly keep an eye on other potential trends that may emerge, as it is likely that there may be several over the course of this year.