TikTok Instagram Snapchat and the rise of bitesized content Qiuqing Tai

Transcriber: Leslie Gauthier
Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

More than 1.5 billion people
around the world,

over half of them under the age of 24,

regularly watch short videos:

clips of 60 seconds or less

using Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram Stories

and other smartphone apps.

The market barely existed seven years ago,

yet today creators are uploading
702 million short videos every day.

As our attention span
is falling to seconds,

short video is not only here to stay
but will become the new normal.

Unlike other social platforms
such as Instagram,

where perfectly edited,
polished images are the norm,

short videos are more accessible,

inviting imperfection and authenticity.

And because each clip is so short,

content producers have to be creative
and concise communicators.

But these bite-sized videos
are more than just fun and entertainment.

For me personally,

as a consultant and mother,

short videos are where
I get parenting tips.

On my way to work I can quickly learn
about the secrets of breastfeeding

while traveling

and get great ideas about how
to make my daughter sleep sooner.

Businesses are also learning

that short videos are a great way
to find new customers

and expand the diversity
of their audiences.

Earlier this year,
I led a project with TikTok,

the world’s leading short-video platform,

to assess the economic and social
impact of this bite-sized economy.

Our study shows that this young medium
is changing a lot more

than the way we spend our leisure time.

In 2019,

short video generated
an estimated 95 billion US dollars

in goods and services sold

and created roughly
1.2 million jobs globally.

Even within this short lifespan,

short video is already impacting
the way we work, communicate and learn.

In the age of COVID-19,

while museums around the world
are facing indefinite closure,

many have acted quickly

to bring in an engage and new,
younger audience remotely.

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence,

which just established its official
new website three years ago,

is using short video
to attract new audiences

to their statues and paintings.

By matching exhibits with emojis,
music lyrics or funny quotes,

the museum is making
its artwork more accessible

and relevant to the young
generation of art lovers.

In one of its recent posts,

a cartoon coronavirus turned into a rock

and smashed in half

in front of Caravaggio’s
painting “Medusa,”

who has the power to turn
those who gaze at her into stone.

(Video) (Music: “Symphony No. 5”)

(Recording) Cardi B: Coronavirus!

(Voice-over) Qiuqing Tai:
Uffizi also experimented

with influencers livestreaming
from the gallery on short-video platform,

allowing viewers around the world
to experience art

that they’ve never been able
to see in person.

Since its appearance
on TikTok in April 2020,

the museum’s profile has attracted
more than 43,000 followers

in three months.

This speed is far quicker
than their journey on Twitter,

where it built up a similar number
of fanbase during the past four years.

Small businesses are also using
short video as a way to find new audiences

who might have never heard of them
or their products before.

In 2018, Douyin, the leading
Chinese short-video platform,

as part of a social
responsibility initiative

to alleviate poverty in China,

launched a campaign
to help individual farmers

and small businesses in China’s
mountainous areas sell farm produce.

As one of its pilot projects,

Douyin invited content producers

to create four pieces
of 15-second short videos

showcasing the quality of their products.

This is on top of other,
regular PR initiatives,

such as promotional articles.

Douyin wanted to leverage
the large user base of short video

to find those customers
who might be interested in those products

and then connected them
with the e-commerce website

so that people can buy things
as they watch the videos.

In just five days,

the initiative helped nearly 4,000
families in Sichuan Province

sell an astonishing
120,000 kilograms of plums.

Many brands that are interested
in hiring and recruiting young people

have been using short video
as a fresh way to engage

with Generation Z.

For example,

more than half of McDonald’s employees
are aged between 16 to 24.

In Australia, the brand was struggling
to recruit in recent years,

so it launched something
called “snaplication,”

which is a Snapchat lens
that enabled users

to shoot 10-second videos explaining why
they’d be a perfect McDonald’s employee

and then prompted them to a link
with a job application.

Within 24 hours
after launching the campaign,

McDonald’s received 3,000 “snaplications,”

four times more than the number
they received in a whole week

using traditional methods.

While it’s unclear whether hiring
over short video is the best way

to find the right people for the job
or to retain talent,

but judging solely
from recruiting numbers,

the campaign was a global hit.

In Saudi Arabia,

McDonald’s received 43,000
snaplications within 24 hours,

and the company launched
the campaign again later in the US.

Much like how I like to get
parenting tips from short video,

many users also want to leverage
the platform to learn,

but in tiny, bit-sized doses.

In our study, short video users globally
ranked the top benefits of the platform

as discovering new interests
and learning new skills.

In emerging markets especially,

short video for learning and education

has huge potential
to change the status quo.

In 2019, TikTok launched
a campaign in India

with the aim of democratizing learning
for the Indian digital community.

While the app has been banned
in the country since July 2020,

it launched a huge demand
for educational short-video content

and other platforms
are jumping in to fill in the space.

TikTok was able to spark this trend

by collaborating with Indian
social enterprises,

education startups

and popular creators

to produce 15-second short videos
that covered a range of topics

from school-level science
to learning new languages.

As the first wave of short video
became widely spread on the platform,

audiences got inspired

and some even began to create
their own educational content.

By October 2019,

the campaign had generated
more than 10 million videos

and garnered 48 billion views.

Through helping people learn

and participate in the process
of content creation,

short videos are in fact helping prep
and train the skilled population

that can take on
the challenges of the future.

Like all social media,

there are valid concerns
around short-video platforms,

including data privacy,

the addictive nature of the format

and the lack of nuance
and context in the content.

However, I still think
that the positive outcomes of short video

will outweigh its downsides.

I believe short video will become
a more vital economic and social force

in the future.

It is precisely because of this

that we need to find the right way
to benefit from this young medium

through collaboration among users,

platforms and policymakers.

Thank you.