Vertical Video is possibly the largest digital faux pas ever to exist on the Internet. In fact shooting in a vertical format has its own ‘clinical’ name:
Vertical Video Syndrome (VVS) is a fictitious disease which satirically claims that those afflicted can only shoot videos in a portrait orientation, as opposed to the more viewer-friendly landscape mode.
Source: KnowYourMeme.co.uk
Users are naturally used to watching video on horizontal widescreen formats, whether that’s TV, cinema or mobile. Video shot vertically and forced to work on a widescreen leads to large empty spaces that make for uncomfortable viewing.
This uncomfortable viewing results in a pretty critical audience who have to ‘put up’ with this awkward format; make the mistake on Reddit.com and you can expect your reputation to be left in tatters.
The problem has become so widespread that American rapper, Childish Gambino felt the need to do his bit for digital society…
Despite this trend, Vertical video is now becoming a ‘buzzword’ within the advertising industry. In a world where marketing conversations often start with the words “mobile, mobile, mobile”, advertisers have been forced to adapt to how users behave on mobile. And with the likes of Snapchat and Periscope, more and more video is being shot vertically – a trend that is sure to continue.
As a result, YouTube has launched an update to make vertical video much more comfortable to watch, and we can expect the same improvements to roll out across other video platforms. The importance of this is that users will no longer be required to digest all their video content horizontally for the best experience. It’s a small detail, but as we’ve seen from personal tech over the last decade, convenience is key – and if the ‘hassle’ of rotating your screen from vertical to horizontal can be avoided then you can bet it’ll be adopted, and the advertisers will follow.
