The problem with short-form content
🚀 Creator Journey 09
How much time do you spend on TikTok every day?
According to a study by Sensor Tower, users have the app open for 95 minutes per day on average.
That’s 21 minutes more than YouTube.
How did short-form content get so popular? 🤯
What makes short-form content so attractive compared to longer videos?
Short-form content is taking over
Over the last few years, platforms like TikTok and Instagram (and more recently YouTube) have been jumping on the trend of short videos.
The reason for that is completely biological: dopamine. 🧠
Dopamine plays a key role in the brain's reward system, which is responsible for regulating motivation and pleasure. When we engage in activities that we perceive as rewarding, our brains release dopamine, which gives us a feeling of satisfaction. This reinforces the behaviour, making it more likely that we will engage in that activity again. It becomes a habit.
Social media platforms take advantage of this. While longer videos (e.g. on YouTube) can make you feel satisfied, 15-second videos provide (arguably) that same feeling – just potentially 25x more often. This is a gold mine full of dopamine. Naturally, our brain gravitates towards that.
TikTok, Instagram and co. have designed their algorithms to prioritise content that keeps the user on the platform longer. It’s all about engagement. Short-form content, with its quick, attention-grabbing format, is highly effective at keeping users engaged and scrolling through their feeds.
That explains the prioritisation of short-form content. Platforms encourage creators to post short videos and increase their reach and engagement in return – which leads to growth.
Creators are happy. Users are happy. Platforms are happy. ✅
So, what’s the problem?
The problem with short-form content
There’s no denying the fact that short-form content is an incredible opportunity for creators.
Since the focus appears to be on quantity over quality (though I still feel like high-quality and valuable content sets you apart from others), consistency seems to be the cheat code to (fairly) quick success. 🚀
Creators who can put out quick, engaging content daily have seen their accounts grow rapidly. However, as a creator myself who has built an audience through short-form videos on Instagram (10K to 100K followers in only 3 months), I have encountered a significant problem.
Wait, this isn’t new 🤔
With the algorithm generally prioritising a specific style of videos (short, fast-paced, energetic, etc.), I’m worried about everything looking the same now.
The most obvious example is trends.
Someone creates a video that reaches a large group of people for various reasons. Others now recreate (some might say “steal”) that video to get similar results. The more people participate, the bigger the trend becomes.
That’s probably the easiest way to get views.
There are two issues with that, however.
Creator-viewer-connection
Firstly, you don’t build a deep connection with your audience. If everything is the same, why should the viewer even follow YOU?
By the way, that is exactly what you need to work on to build a community. Find what makes you and your content unique and use that to your advantage. People will build up trust and become long-term followers. 🤝
Short-form video is all about the content, not the creator. Implementing more of your personality may not give you as many views first as simply making “efficient” content, but the connections you build with your followers will pay off eventually.
The Toxic Creator
Secondly, the true meaning of being a creator gets lost.
Admittedly, creating something is, and has always been, an endless cycle of inspiration. You see something, you are inspired, you create something based on that, and others get inspired by that piece of art.
On social media, however, it’s easy to get lost in the trap of simply copying someone else. Why even waste time and energy on making something unique instead of just doing what is already proven to work?
I call this the Toxic Creator. Copying others and labelling it as your own creation.
While there’s nothing wrong with recreating videos to improve your skills, always (!) give credit to your source of inspiration. 🙏
Unfortunately, over time, stealing ideas (and even entire videos) has been normalised on social media. I can’t count the times other accounts have posted my videos without any credit, let alone permission.
The best approach to short-form content
As creators, we want to make an impact with our work, and while short-form content can be a powerful tool for reaching a broad audience quickly, it is quite limiting.
It means that we have to sacrifice depth and complexity in favour of quick hits of entertainment. Conveying ideas or emotions in a matter of seconds is difficult. Art is reduced to content.
My favourite way to use short-form content is for experimentation. I feel much less overwhelmed making a 15-second video which helps with getting into the habit of creating daily – leading to constant improvement. 📈
Use those short videos to try something new.
Got a new lens? Film a video using only that one lens and find creative ways to make it work.
Learned a new editing technique? Put it right to use.
Wanna try something completely different, but you’re afraid it’ll hurt your account? Make that video and move on to the next one. Your audience will still be there.
Instead of ignoring short-form content completely or hating the concept, we should learn to use it in a way that helps us grow as creators.
Strive to create work that is meaningful that matters to you.
We should use the tools at our disposal to tell our stories and share our ideas with the world, but we should never let those tools dictate the direction of our art. 💡
Experiment with new formats and platforms, but never sacrifice your artistic vision in the process.
– Leo
Weekly Favs ⚡️
Tools, content and other things I’ve enjoyed over the week.
💡 Graphic – Rules of a Creator’s Life
9 thought-provoking rules for creators. Maybe consider implementing some of them.
My favourites are:
Teach others about what you know.
Make work into play.
Make your own inspiration.
✍️ Tweet – AI-generated product design
– By Sash Zats
Artificial intelligence has created these products combining design languages of several different brands. Super impressive stuff.
🎧 Tech – Apple AirPods Pro
I’m still using the first-generation AirPods Pro. They are my favourite headphones. I used them on a long flight recently, and the noise cancellation always comes in handy. Sound quality has been perfectly fine for me, though there are probably better options. Also check out the the second-generation AirPods Pro.
Any thoughts, questions or feedback? I’d love to hear from you! ✍️
👋 See you next week!