The short video format: Conceptualizing a ubiquitous artifact of visual platforms
Additional information
Authors
Type
Journal Article
Year
2026
Language
English
Abstract
Short videos first emerged as a core feature of visual-centric platforms and have rapidly expanded across nearly all online spaces, challenging traditional audiovisual norms and reshaping how content is created, consumed, and engaged with. This paper argues that a cross-platform conceptualization is necessary to define how short videos and their features generate meaning, distinguish them from other audiovisual artifacts, facilitate comparison across studies, and support cumulative research. The infrastructure of short videos will continue evolving, shaped by platform objectives and user demands. The conceptual framework introduced in this study allows for tracking and comparing these changes across diverse environments, highlighting how short videos shape platform aesthetics and user practices through mobile-based technological standards, affordances, and the interplay of multiple communication modes. By doing so, this framework provides a solid theoretical foundation for developing tailored methodologies capable of grasping the complex components of this format.
Keywords
short videos, short video format, visual platforms, visual communication, social media
Journal
International Journal of Communication
Volume
20
Pages (or article number)
792–816
