2016 Is the Year of the Vertical Video Creator

The future is here, and it’s vertical — the future of mobile video, that is.

Along with the growing popularity of smartphones, the trend towards filming and watching videos vertically isn’t showing any signs of slowing. Regardless of where you stand on the matter of horizontal vs. vertical videos, it’s hard to deny that vertical content does play better on our phones.

What Is Vertical Video & Why Is It Becoming So Popular?

Vertical videos play full-screen when you hold your phone upright in your hand — like you would when you’re texting — also known as portrait orientation.

In his blog post HxV, Andrew McLuhan describes vertical video as “new technology coming into its own, being used the *right* way — the way more suitable. It’s a new technology, a new tool — a new medium.” He suggests that vertical content offers “an opportunity to reach people on an intimate level.”

The average smartphone user is creating and consuming more vertical content than ever because it feels natural on our phones. Vertical video has evolved into a legitimate form of storytelling and provides more immersive experiences to smartphone users than would be possible on a television or laptop.

By 2019, video is expected to account for 80% of all internet traffic and almost one million minutes of video will be shared every second. Vertical video will continue to occupy a growing portion of the market as video becomes the dominant form of mobile content.

Popular apps like Snapchat, Periscope, and Meerkat have helped spur the shift towards vertical video; however, until recently, the mobile space was lacking a designated platform for saving vertical videos and discovering new vertical video creators. Despite the immense amount of effort put into making quality vertical videos, most of the content was either disappearing after 24 hours or being housed by platforms not optimized for displaying vertical content. Sharing through Facebook and YouTube does allow vertical content to live on, but doesn’t present it properly or solve the issue for creators whose followings are scattered across multiple apps.

Slinger is Designed with Vertical Video Creators in Mind

We recognized the shifting focus from horizontal to vertical video and worked with a number of up-and-coming Snapchat influencers to create a place that vertical videos could call home.

A bootstrapped project built by creators for creators, Slinger is a brand new platform designed specifically for discovering, sharing, and learning about vertical video while growing your audience.

Our CEO, Chris Carmichael, notes that high-quality content is likely to thrive on a platform like Slinger because the focus is not on creating something quickly digestible and disposable, but on creating artwork and thoughtful storytelling.

Not only is Chris one of Slinger’s three co-founders, he’s also the longest-standing storyteller on Snapchat and one of the most well-respected creators on the platform. He began growing an audience on Snapchat in January 2014 and has since worked with big names like Disney, NHL, and Universal to produce entertaining and engaging vertical content. He understands the challenges of publishing in the vertical video space from firsthand experience and has witnessed brands grappling with the concept of investing thousands of dollars into content that disappears after just 24 hours.

Vertical video creators are currently the underdogs, struggling to build a loyal following and to have their art seen by the world, but Slinger is here to change that by housing vertical content without an expiry date. Slinger makes it easier than ever to discover and watch vertical videos from around the world, while allowing users to share their own content with a growing audience.

“Vertical favours first-person stories. Personal, blogging, podcasting — stories from/about individuals,” says McLuhan. The nature of the vertical medium is both intimate and compelling because “the distance between the ‘host’ and the ‘audience’ shrinks to virtually nothing — they are just arm’s lengths away with only the technology in between.”

As a handheld gallery for vertical videos, Slinger fosters a more meaningful connection between the viewer and the content than would be possible on a horizontal computer screen. Not only is watching vertical video more natural and intuitive for mobile viewers, but the potential for creativity in producing vertical videos is huge because so much of the space has yet to be defined.

Slinger is available for download from the App Store and is coming soon to Android users.