Most of us are addicted to those social media videos, be it TikTok videos, Insta reels, or YouTube shorts, right? And in 2024, the social video market is booming, with users spending an average of 151 minutes per day on video content across platforms.
Compared to long-form videos, short-form videos like TikTok Reels and Instagram Reels are going more viral in 2024! However, this overall dominance falls short when it comes to YouTube, where long videos are still more widely consumed than shorts.
In this blog, we will tell you about the top social video platforms that are currently creating all the buzz. We will also tell you the top features that make these platforms so popular, and the easiest way to develop your own social video platform without coding. So, let’s get started!
A social video platform is also a form of social media platform but with videos at its core focus. It is a platform specifically designed for creating, sharing, and viewing video content in a social context. Text and images may complement it, but videos take center stage.
While some platforms like YouTube cater to longer formats, the recent trend leans towards bite-sized, attention-grabbing videos, often under a minute. That is why TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Snapchat are amongst the most popular social video platforms in 2024!
Even conventional social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) also allow their users to post short videos. And these videos often go viral too, hence proving the popularity of videos across social media platforms.
As compared to web platforms, social video apps for mobile and smart TVs have become more popular in recent times. This is because of two reasons. First, people prefer watching videos either on bigger TV screens or on-the-go on their mobile phones. And second, even the creators use smartphone apps more nowadays! Anyone with a smartphone can become a creator, making video content more accessible and diverse.
In 2024, there are 5.04 billion global social media mobile app users, which is approximately 62.3% of the total internet users. In 2023 alone, around 284 billion social media mobile apps were downloaded globally.
A similar trend is observed for smart TV apps too! Smart and connected TVs are now present in 1.9 billion households globally, and they accounted for 22% of total social video viewing time in 2022-23.
So, why this sudden shift? There are several reasons behind it, like:
Based on the number of viewers, YouTube is the most popular social video platform with 2.5 billion monthly active users, followed by Facebook with nearly 2 billion monthly active, Instagram with 2 billion monthly active, and TikTok with 1 billion monthly active users.
Other players like Snapchat, Vimeo, and X are also becoming popular social video streaming destinations. Let’s take you through the most popular options one by one.
The video giant, YouTube offers long-form content across diverse genres, live streams, and powerful search functions. With a staggering 2.5 billion monthly active users consuming 1 billion hours of content daily, it’s a platform where viewers get a huge variety of content, literally everything they want. This vast library boasts over 1 billion videos across diverse genres, and 500 hours of new content are uploaded every minute, making it perfect for anyone seeking information, entertainment, or a deeper dive into specific topics.
It is often used by creators and viewers seeking in-depth analysis on different topics. Users can create channels to share their passions, build communities, and even earn income through monetization features. Its powerful search and recommendation algorithm makes it easy to discover new content aligned with your interests, while its live streaming capabilities offer real-time engagement and interaction.
However, the platform is not without its downsides. Ads can be intrusive, comment sections can be a breeding ground for negativity, and the sheer volume of content can make it challenging to stand out. Additionally, competition in certain niches may be fierce, and long-form videos require a higher commitment from viewers.
Remember the time when you could post just photos on Instagram? Well, those days are long gone! This social media giant has now transformed into a social video powerhouse. With over 2 billion monthly active users glued to their screens for a staggering 150 million hours of video content daily, Instagram streams more videos than Netflix!
Especially, Instagram Reels, which was launched as an answer to TikTok, is exploding in popularity. With over 1 billion monthly active users, these bite-sized videos offer endless entertainment and creativity in under 90 seconds. As Instagram’s features continue to evolve, users are increasingly exploring Linktree alternatives to maximize the effectiveness of their bio links, expanding their reach and engagement beyond the platform’s constraints.
Facebook is known for its viral posts, but did you notice that more than 60% of Facebook’s viral posts are actually videos? The social media platform already attracts 2.91 billion monthly active users, who collectively devour 4 billion hours of video content daily. That’s more than the combined watch time of YouTube and Netflix!
But it’s not just long-form videos dominating the scene. Facebook Watch, the platform’s dedicated video hub, is brimming with original shows, live streams, and user-generated content. And let’s not forget Facebook Reels, offering short, engaging videos that have garnered over 1.5 billion monthly users.
Remember Vine? TikTok is its reincarnated, globalized successor, captivating 1 billion monthly active users with its bite-sized, vertical video format. But why are they so popular? Because they simplified edits; and delivered a platform that is extremely easy to use.
It’s all about showing your creativity in front of the camera for 60 seconds. From quirky dances to hilarious skits, and educational tutorials to mesmerizing food creations, the platform explodes with diverse content.
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Read this blog to learn more about how to create an app like TikTok.
Remember sending photos to friends that vanished after a few seconds? Snapchat is undoubtedly one of the pioneers of ephemeral content. And the best part is, it still continues to thrive with over 332 million daily active users, and over 750 total users with active accounts.
While photos and videos still disappear, and that is why they still call them “snaps”. However, the platform has evolved with diverse features, keeping users engaged and entertained. They have also incorporated stories, similar to Instagram stories, giving a new dimension to the platform.
Vimeo is often called “YouTube for the creators”. While YouTube boasts sheer volume and casual entertainment, Vimeo prioritizes high-quality content, creative expression, and a supportive community.
This is mainly because Vimeo caters to a different segment of content creators. It usually caters to cinematographers, artists, and professionals seeking a platform to showcase their work. It fosters communities around specific interests, like animation, filmmaking, and documentaries, offering targeted engagement and feedback.
X, formerly known as Twitter, is a microblogging platform where users share short messages called tweets or X posts, whichever you would like to call them. While concise, tweets can include text, images, videos, and links.
Users can follow other accounts to see their tweets in their feeds and interact with them by liking, retweeting, or replying. So, X is not a true social video platform like TikTok or YouTube. Rather, it is a mix of text with video/images.
While Pinterest boasts a massive user base of over 450 million monthly active users, it’s not traditionally considered a “social video platform” like the others we’ve discussed. Rather, it’s a platform where you can share any form of visual content.
It primarily functions as a visual search engine and discovery platform, where users share and discover images and short videos (called “Pins”) across an array of interests.
While Reddit does allow users to share video content, it’s not traditionally considered a “social video platform” like YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok. It functions primarily as a discussion forum where users can share content through text posts, images, and links, which can include links to videos hosted on other platforms.
That means, it does not offer native video hosting like YouTube or Vimeo. Instead, users typically share links to videos hosted on other platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, or Imgur. Recently, they have updated their platform, after which uploading and embedding videos directly on the platform is possible. But it’s a less common and relatively new feature. However, it is effective as it often sparks conversations.
Launched in July 2023, Threads, by Meta, attempted to carve a unique space in the social media landscape, by directly competing with X. Initially, it aimed to prioritize text-based conversations over private messaging and newsfeeds. But later, Meta introduced limited video capabilities to it too!
Currently, Thread users can directly upload videos up to 5 minutes long from their phone’s gallery. They can also share videos from their existing Instagram account directly to Threads.
As you might have already noticed, there are only five to six good social video platforms out there in the market. All others are full-fledged social media platforms (mostly text-based) supporting videos in them.
But the demand for social videos is immense, and there is a clear gap between demand and delivery in this case. As an entrepreneur, you can easily capitalize on the same.
Moreover, there are some more compelling reasons to consider building your own social video platform in 2024, like:
As an entrepreneur, you need to make sure that your social video platforms and apps include all the latest and trending features so that they can stand out from the rest. Remember, understanding the crucial features is key to success. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most important features to consider.
It is your responsibility to make it easy for users to upload, edit (basic or advanced), and share videos in various formats (short-form, long-form, live streaming). That is why, you should accommodate the following features:
You need to tailor your search algorithms to showcase relevant content to users based on their preferences, watch history, and trending topics. Also, you can utilize AI-based recommendation engines to suggest content, channels, and communities based on individual user behavior.
Your platform must have audience engagement features like comments, likes, shares, polls, reactions, and live chat functionalities. You can also offer community-building tools that facilitate the creation of groups, channels, or forums where users can connect and share interests, but these are optional.
Nowadays, every content creator wants to monetize their videos to earn revenues from them. So, your social video platform must offer different monetization options, like:
Your creators obviously won’t want anyone else to reuse their content without due permission. And such offenses are extremely common in the social video landscape. That is why, you need to have robust security and privacy features in place. Some of these features include:
Analytics helps get valuable insights about content performance, audience demographics, and engagement metrics. To make it even more effective, you can use easily understandable visual representations like graphs, charts, and reports.
So, you must be wondering how you can build a social video platform easily, right? Here’s the good news for you! Now you can create your own branded social video platform that specifically caters to short videos, like TikTok or Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, using Muvi Minis!
Here are the steps that you need to follow:
Once you submit the request for “Try Your App”, your app will be delivered to your email within minutes!
To know more about the process, read our detailed blog on “How to Build An App Like TikTok”.
Social Video is booming, but the social video platforms are still the same. YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have been ruling this market ever since. Hence, it desperately needs new players, and you can be one of them! Develop your own video streaming platform using Muvi Minis and get started on this amazing entrepreneurial journey! Sign up with Muvi One and start your 14-day free trial today!
A social video platform is a website or app where users can share, watch, and interact with video content. Common examples include YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. Most of these platforms focus on short, engaging videos and allow users to comment, like, and follow creators. However, some platforms like YouTube prioritize long-form videos too.
Here’s the key difference between social video platforms and traditional social media:
Some of the most popular social video platforms in 2024 include:
Short-form videos are thriving on social video platforms for a few reasons:
Social video platforms use a few key strategies to monetize the content, including:
Written by: Debarpita Banerjee
Debarpita is a Content Writer with Muvi. With around 2 years of experience in content creation, she has worked across industries like SaaS, EdTech, eLearning, AR-VR, and Metaverse. She believes in delivering content that can be of some value to the readers. In her free time, she likes to try her hand at website and app development.
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