David Lee King

social media | emerging trends | libraries

Experiments with Short Form Video

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In January, I made a short time lapse video of me shoveling snow off my driveway (see the video embedded in this blog post if you’re interested!). Because I think doing that type of thing is sorta fun (the video – not the shoveling!).

Then I decided to do an experiment with it. So I posted it to multiple social media platforms to see how many views I’d get from each one. Here are my results to date:

So … that was fun! What was the point? Well, a couple of things:

  • Experimentation – I’m starting to experiment more with short-form vertical video, so it was fun just making a time lapse video using my iPhone and the vertical format. Pretty simple too – just open up the camera app and click the time lapse button!
  • Curiosity – seeing how many views I’d get on different platforms. This was interesting, since they varies quite a bit! Some thoughts on the amount of views on each platform:
    • Instagram and Facebook: that makes sense. I’m pretty active on both platforms, and both platforms currently favor Reels content – pretty sure Instagram and Facebook give Reels content more weight in the algorithm over traditional content.
    • YouTube: I’m not very active on YouTube as a content creator, so no one is waiting in anticipation for a new video from me (especially a short-form video). My more popular videos focus on traveling, tech reviews, and/or music. Not shoveling snow off my driveway.
    • Twitter: I have a bunch of followers there (over 12,000), but I don’t post a lot, especially video. So 91 views is pretty good!
    • TikTok: That’s my average video view in TikTok. I’m pretty inconsistent with posting, and there are much more interesting videos than mine on that platform.

Here are a couple things to point out about this exercise for libraries:

  • Make sure to experiment with those different platforms! You have a phone in your pocket, so post something and see what happens. 
  • Post to multiple platforms. 24 views on YouTube is not much. But over 10,000 views (when everything added up across all platforms) is a pretty successful video!

Posting to multiple platforms can also show where your strengths and weaknesses are with those platforms (so you can figure out what needs to happen next). 

For example:

  • Do I want more views on YouTube or Twitter? Then I need to be more consistent with making content on those platforms, and interacting there.
  • Reels on Instagram and Facebook were successful. I have an active audience on both platforms, so my next steps should be to figure out what types of content to post, and to be consistent in posting Reels.
  • New platforms are active and have growth potential. TikTok and both Reels platforms are all relatively new, and have active audiences. Growing engagement and viewership on those platforms will come naturally (assuming I consistently post interesting content).

Something to think about – hope you find this useful!