Reelified: Americans Prefer Short-Form Video

Six years after Instagram launched Reels in response to the growing popularity of TikTok, short-form video has become the dominant content format. Snackable content delivered by ever more powerful algorithms has proven successful in keeping users engaged for longer, as it delivers dopamine hit after dopamine hit – resulting in more screen time for viewers and more ad impressions for platforms.

Despite concerns about its addictive nature and impact on attention spans, short-form video has quickly become the most popular content format. According to Statista Consumer Insights, 62 percent of U.S. adults say that short-form video is among their preferred content formats, putting it far ahead of text (42 percent) and long-form video (40 percent). This is true for all surveyed age groups (18 to 64 years old), illustrating that it’s not a trend limited to Gen Z, the so-called TikTok generation.

Feeling the pressure from Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, which are increasingly dominating screen time, even Netflix – the company that popularized long-form binge-watching – has started to embrace short-form content. Just months after introducing Clips, a vertical video feed serving short snippets from the company’s vast content library, Netflix will soon start offering curated videos from several digital media brands on its platform. The goal is clear – to keep users engaged – and the company is making no secret of it. “Starting next month, you’ll be able to watch some of your favorite videos from around the internet without having to leave Netflix to find them,” the company wrote in its press release. In other words: if you insist on watching short-form videos, Netflix wants you to do it on its platform – a clear sign that the battle for attention cuts across formats.