Ephemeral content, text and images that disappear after a time, is one of the biggest social media trends of recent years. Such short-lived content is expected to continue this steep growth path. Here’s an overview of the reasons for the (rightful) buzz over content that disappears and application recommendations for using it.
So-called ephemeral content had its origins in 2011 with the emergence of Snapchat. That app is based on the principle that each photo or video sent is only viewed once by the recipient and then disappears. The success of Snapchat and its Story function led to other major social media platforms discovering this format for themselves. This is how Stories were first created on Instagram, whose content was no longer available after 24 hours. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube soon jumped on the bandwagon and established corresponding formats. And the numbers don’t lie: According to an analysis by techjury, 70% of Instagram users look at Stories every day, and 62% said in an Ipsos survey conducted by Facebook IQ that their interest in a product or brand increases when it appears in a Story.