Traditional text article is still the most popular format for news among internet users despite a rapid shift and continuous push towards video from the publishers and platforms, according to a study conducted in 26 countries by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford and YouGov.
We have seen a greater push towards video in recent years. Digital media companies like Mashable, BuzzFeed, Mic along with others have announced heavy investments in video production. In Bangladesh, mainstream media like Daily Star is also promoting video content.
Platforms like Facebook has changed their priorities for live videos. However, the report said that although platforms and publishers are putting lots of weight on video content but there is no such demand from the consumer side.
Among the respondents of the study, almost six out of ten reported they read articles in the past week while it is only 24% for video and only meagre 5% for mostly video. However, video news consumption is higher among active social media users compared to other internet users.
36% of active social media users reported that they watched video news in the past week which is 27% for the Facebook users. One year ago, in 2015, the same survey found that majority of the US internet users, two-third, prefer text content while only 14% said they watched more video content.
Although video consumption is not gaining as much traction as publishers and platforms hoped for, it remained a popular medium among the brands and advertisers. In Bangladesh, a growing number of advertisers is leaning towards video content when it comes to digital marketing.
