How are TikTok and Instagram influencing how we create photo and video content?

It’s no surprise that both TikTok and Instagram are pretty much unavoidable when it comes to photo and video content online. After all, their user base has been rocketing over the past few years. TikTok is currently one of the most popular social media platforms worldwide with over 1.7 billion users as of 2023, and Instagram Reels has 2.35 billion logging in to post their own content. In many ways, both act as a Google replacement – 40% of Americans use the channels instead of the traditional search engine.

So how have these channels had an impact on the content they contain? What’s changing in the style and consumption of that photography and video? And why?

The rise of short form content

Anyone who’s spent time on either channel will know that part of their success is their short form style of consumption. Quick clips or easily digested images are perfect for modern online viewing, where people spend time on their phone whilst travelling, working or doing another primary activity at the same time. With so much content to choose from, clips need to be attention grabbing – no surprise given the drastic reduction in average attention span from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2024.

Format changes

Whereas once channels like YouTube made landscape video the online format of choice, echoing older TV and movie formats, phones have forced a move to vertical video and 4×5 framed photos. This has had a knock on effect in the way people shoot their own images and video for social channels, combined with the emergence of trends that those looking to boost reach and exposure would be wise to follow. No longer is an image or video considered on the basis of what will look best to the viewer. It’s now just as much about what will perform best on social, and stand a better chance of engaging followers.

Pleasing the algorithm

Perhaps the biggest change in how people consume photo and video online comes not from ‘people’ at all, but from the much-maligned ‘algorithm’. This is the tech that channels use to decide what you see, when and how, dictating the way people consume content, and as a result the way people post. Whether it’s repurposing old footage or photos to create new versions and increase the lifespan in the process, or adding certain types of images more than others because the algorithm prefers them, the tech behind the social channels is constantly changing, and constantly impacting the world of photo and video online.

Boosting accessibility

Whilst so many of those elements might seem like limiting factors or worrying changes in the world of photo and video, we shouldn’t forget the huge benefit of TikTok and Instagram… accessibility! More people than ever are creating their own content and uploading it for the world to see, and the huge leaps in camera-phone quality mean that the barrier to entry has never been lower. Manufacturers even sell ‘influencer kits’ that offer everything you need to shoot and edit from your phone, making the most of social media friendly settings in common phone apps.

Staying ahead of the algorithm, the format changes and the trends in online content can sometimes feel like a job in itself, but there’s never been a better time to dive into the world of photo and video, and to share your creativity!