Video Eats the Internet

A startling statistic — as of 2016, people are sharing and creating three times more video than they were a year ago on Facebook. Facebook’s head of operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa said “We’re seeing a year-on-year decline of text. […] If I was having a bet [about Facebook in five years] I’d say: video, video, video.” Video on Vine, Instagram, and other social media channels are all growing by leaps and bounds too.

Snapchat, which came out of nowhere, is currently obliterating every other platform with video. They’re at 10 billion views per day, edging out Youtube and even Facebook by a full two billion. More than a third of Snapchat users create “stories” (broadcasting photos and videos from their lives that last 24 hours) through the app by sending out quick videos through a 24-hour period.

Photos and videos are being used as speech instead of just as a repository for memories.

Just the stats from YouTube as of 2015.

  1. YouTube has over a billion users, which is almost one-third of all people on the Internet
  2. Every day people watch hundreds of millions of hours on YouTube and generate billions of views.
  3. YouTube overall, and even YouTube on mobile alone, reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the U.S.
  4. Once users are on YouTube, they are spending more time per session watching videos.
  5. On mobile, the average viewing session is now more than 40 minutes.

Rest assure, the numbers are even larger today.