Consumption of short-form video, or short video format (SVF), has been growing in India, and it is becoming one of the fastest growing storytelling formats. An estimated 60+ percent of internet users now watch SVF stories.

According to Mehak Kasbekar, Editor-in-Chief at Brut India, data from Tubular Labs shows that in the 90 days up to 14 March, 77 percent of content viewed on YouTube was less than two minutes in length and 63 percent was less than 60 seconds. In fact, content less than 60 seconds was viewed a staggering 535 billion times on YouTube.

YouTube, traditionally a long-form content platform, is now counting on short-form content for its growth, Kasbekar said during WAN-IFRA's Digital Media India conference held in March in New Delhi. “Podcasts are doing really great,” she said. "Also, Spotify recently introduced a feature [Clips] for artists to create short-form videos.”

So why are these social media platforms scrambling to compete in this space? According to Kasbekar, it’s all about Gen Z. “A lot of evolution is happening very quickly across platforms, as Gen Z and their tastes evolve,” she said.

And why are we seeing growth in SVF specifically?

“It’s because attention spans are shortening," Kasbekar said. "At this point, it is about 2.7 seconds, and for Gen Z it is even shorter” she said.

According to Kasbekar, 59% of the short-form videos are watched for 41-80% of their length. This makes short form videos an effective means to tell a story.

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