Throughout time, our ability to tell stories has defined and connected people. Even in today’s technology-filled age, this hasn’t changed. It’s just morphed into a new medium. Whether it’s on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or other platforms, social media is one of the biggest platforms for storytelling today. In this post, we’ll dive into exactly how social media has influenced video storytelling and how stories will continue to evolve with artificial intelligence.

Storytelling through the ages

The only consistent thing about telling a story is that there will always be a narrative. How that story is structured, the medium of it, and nearly every other element will always change. That’s always been the nature of storytelling since the very beginning. 

As technology developed, books, movies, shows, newspapers, and other media gave us new ways to tell stories. Movies especially unlocked new ways that editing could allow filmmakers to innovate and use new methods to tell stories, such as the Kuleshov effect. 

That trend has continued with new forms of video, including the short-form video craze that we’re experiencing now. Social media has made its own unique mark on the art of storytelling that’s continuing to evolve even as the platforms and audiences grow and change.

The influence of social media storytelling

In case you didn’t grow up with the beginnings of social media, I want to tell you about the first video ever uploaded to YouTube in 2005. It was a 19 second clip of YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim standing in front of the elephant exhibit at the San Diego zoo titled “Me at the zoo.” In it, he introduces himself, then tells the camera a cool fact about elephants (that they have really long trunks), then ends with, “And that’s pretty much all there is to say.”

In a lot of ways, it’s an unremarkable video. But even though YouTube was a brand-new website that no one knew about, Jawed still followed a structured format for his video storytelling. Many consider this video to be the first example of all of the amateur content that would build YouTube up to the social media powerhouse that it is today. But that’s just scratching the surface of the ways that social media has changed video storytelling over time.

How creative constraints breed innovative video storytelling on social media

If you’re a creator, you’re likely familiar with the concept of creative constraints. Think of only giving yourself five minutes to write out an idea or challenging yourself to only use certain tools to create a piece of art. The idea is that by limiting choice in the creative process, you can unlock more creativity and spark new ideas. It might surprise you with how often restrictions on social media have led to long-term innovation with both platform limitations along with specific video formats for trends.

Time or length limits for content

When it comes to social media platforms that unlocked innovation and creativity through time limitations, Vine immediately comes to mind. Even today, Vine’s influence on social media storytelling can be seen in video content across any platform. Though it’s not around today (gone but forever in our hearts), only allowing users to upload videos that could only be six seconds long and endlessly looped allowed users to truly tap into their creativity. 

That small window created a renaissance of creative, out of the box video content. And you can still see the influence of it today through the trend of micro-video storytelling on TikTok and Instagram reels. Even now, creators will purposely create a loop in their videos, showing how a platform that’s been gone for years created a lasting impact on the way that video storytelling can be reimagined. 

When TikTok launched, it had a similar constraint of only allowing users to upload 15 or 60 second videos. With time limits, creators have had to learn how to grab and hold their audience’s attention right from the start. With longer-format videos, they also have the challenge of keeping that momentum going all the way through to the end.

Trends and viral video formats

The way that viral sounds originate on TikTok is one lasting influence that the platform has had on storytelling in the digital age. Whether it’s a specific trending audio that people use to tell a story or a specific video format, it’s made storytelling more accessible for people. By creating a clear template for others to follow, even those with limited video creation experience can hop on board with different trends just by using their phones.

One example of a trending audio is a snippet from the show Glee where you can hear the character Kurt Hummel sing, “All that work and what did it get me? Why did I do it?” This audio became an easy-to-recreate viral video trend where someone would film themselves mouthing the audio while a block of text showed a frustrating situation or event they experienced. 

They could have just filmed a video explaining the frustrating situation or event from start to finish. But this short and to the point format simplified the storytelling process. Which in turn, allowed less technically savvy users to join in and tell their own stories. With over 342,000 videos created with this sound on TikTok, it’s clear that this method of storytelling is a popular one that’s here to stay.

Wider, faster reach through algorithms

Another way that social media has influenced modern-day storytelling is the way that it’s easier than ever to find an audience for your stories. If you created a video and uploaded it to a social media platform 10 years ago, it was unlikely anyone would see it outside of people who chose to directly follow you or search for specific keywords related to your video. 

But that all changed when TikTok came on the scene with their “For You” page. Their algorithm uses the information about the videos you engage with to curate a custom feed of content just for you. This approach lets users see videos and content from anyone, along with giving creators the opportunity to publish their videos and immediately have an opportunity to engage an audience outside of their followers. 

This democratization of reach has made storytelling more accessible than ever before. Now, if someone uploads a video telling their story about a certain experience, there’s a good chance it’ll reach people with similar experiences. This fine-tuned algorithm allows us to build communities and connect with each other over social media more quickly and easily than we’ve been able to in the past.

Challenges and criticisms 

Of course, all of these influences on modern-day storytelling have their downsides as well. Many are quick to link social media and the popularity of short-form videos on apps like TikTok to decreased attention spans. There’s also much higher potential for misinformation and manipulated narratives to spread with how easy it is to create videos and instantly reach a receptive audience. 

For better or for worse, when it comes to storytelling techniques, hooking your audience with a shocking statement (whether it’s true or not) is a tried and true method. Now, there are creators who purposefully try to bait their viewers into having a strong emotional reaction for engagement. Many of these creators will stage situations or exaggerate stories without batting an eye. 

The democratization of social media storytelling means that anyone, for better or for worse, can post whatever they want. And while some platforms rolled out fact-checking measures or flags for content that contains misinformation, many aren’t investing in them anymore.

The future of video storytelling on social media

So what does all of this mean for the future of social media storytelling? With artificial intelligence becoming integrated into nearly every platform online, it’s hard to predict what it will look like in the coming years. But we’re already starting to see some of the impact in the advancements of generative AI video, where deepfakes and AI-generated content can quickly gain traction on social media to push false narratives.

In a webinar we hosted with the applied AI research company Runway about the future of storytelling, the opportunities for innovation and experimentation in visual storytelling was a hot topic. Alejandro Matamala Ortiz, the co-founder and Chief Design Officer of Runway, was optimistic about AI’s ability to continue to democratize storytelling for people who may not have been able to invest the time and energy to master programs like After Effects or Premiere Pro. “I think the affordances or the capabilities of AI powered tools are that the barrier of entry is way lower for you to start producing content,” he explained.

With the barrier to entry so low and accessible, a future where anyone and everyone can tell their stories on social media is possible. That could lead to an oversaturation of content, but it could also lead to the next evolution of what storytelling looks like on social media. Alejando likened it to the invention of the camera leading to the creation of cinema as a creative medium: “It’s still very early to understand the capabilities and possibilities of this tool and what it can unlock for creating new, different mediums like cinema that we cannot yet anticipate.”

Tell your stories with Storyblocks

Regardless of what the future of storytelling looks like with social media, there will always be a need for content. And while generative video and other AI tools may become more popular, more traditional mediums are unlikely to disappear any time soon. 

With a Storyblocks subscription, you get access to unlimited downloads of high-quality stock footage, music, and more. Created by independent artists from around the world, your subscription helps support their work while allowing us to continue to provide affordable, artist-made stock content to help you tell your stories. Explore our plan options and sign up today to get started creating better videos, faster than ever.