In the universe of social networks we can find all kinds of content: videos, images, polls, photographs with music… but if there is one thing that is really trending, it is the power of ephemeral content.
What do we mean by ephemeral content? All those publications that only remain visible to users for a short period of time. Currently, the most prominent type of ephemeral content is Instagram Stories, but its origins go back a few years.
The first platform to implement this system of publications that were only visible once or for a short period of time was Snapchat and due to the popularity it achieved, mainly in the US market, platforms such as Instagram and Facebook decided to copy the format.
But… why does this type of content work so well?
The fact of having an expiration time generates a sense of urgency and exclusivity among users, which makes the usage behaviour within the platform start with the visualisation of these contents.
One of the most talked about trends for this year has been how stories are positioning themselves as the number one trending content. The pattern of behaviour is focused on the consumption of short content that does not require a long attention span, the so-called snackable content that TikTok has made so popular. This trend means that brands are faced with a big challenge when it comes to capturing the attention and retaining the audience, which is why stories are the ideal place to impact our community and help us generate a greater reach.
Platforms are aware of this trend, which is why we can see how many of the changes and improvements they are implementing are directly related to this format. Recently we have been able to observe how Instagram’s highlights have changed their presentation to occupy much more space within the profile of each brand or user. In this way, the first and most prominent thing that can be seen are those stories that have been decided to be posted on the profile.
Not only the presentation has changed, but also the functionalities of this space are in continuous evolution, expanding the possibilities of interaction with polls, votes, reactions, etc.