Instant Videos = Instant Stories

Instagram and Snapchat are the internet’s video and photo sharing galore. Friends and families use these two apps to keep in touch with each other, photographers share their amazing photos, and comedians share their videos for the world to laugh.

One of the best features both Instagram and Snapchat have is their instant videos that only stay up for about 24 hours. Most users use this feature to share the simple things they do on an everyday basis — sharing what they’re eating at the moment or the scenery on an event they’re currently attending. But one use that has become very popular for these instant stories is news telling. News organizations and journalists of all kinds have found that Instagram story and Snapchat is yet another platform for them to get their stories out.

On Oct. 18, my old elementary school held an event to help save its playground, the only one in the neighborhood, from closing down. As the journalist I am, I attended the event and used Instagram story to inform my audience about it. I found that using Instagram story was an effective way to inform people about the event instantly. As soon as I started to post, I had people messaging me asking me more details about the event.

In addition to getting the word out quickly, I found that using Instagram story was very easy and simple to use. This is good because sometimes as journalists we want to get the story out while on the field but do not have all the editing tools directly with us. On my phone, I was easily able to use about three apps in total to edit video, record audio and post my story.

For journalists, platforms like Instagram stories and Snapchat are an effective tool for on the field work. Within minutes we can have a story and share it on our platforms without having all the fancy technical things you need to edit high quality, detailed video. We have it all on your own phone!

So many people use Instagram and Snapchat today and a good majority of them are younger kids who don’t normally watch or read traditional news. Instagram stories and Snapchat are a way for these young kids to get more exposure to the news around them. Snapchat has a feature called Discover which is the section of the app where people can see news stories from all kinds of news organizations. Companies like CNN, BuzzFeed, VICE, and The New York Times can be found on the Discover page. The good thing about this feature is that people are able to obtain their news on the same platform they use to obtain entertainment, making it more likely for them to see it.

It’s a win-win situation for journalists and consumers, so I think these instant videos will continue to evolve in the world of news.