Short-Form Video Statistics 2026

1. 1

   YouTube Shorts average over 200 billion daily views, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said on the company's Q2 2025 earnings call (July 2025).

   Source: Alphabet, Alphabet Q2 2025 earnings call: CEO's remarks (Jul 2025)

2. 2

   In Revid's index of 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes, videos of 16 to 30 seconds had the highest median views (about 141,000), ahead of videos under 15 seconds (106,000) and 31 to 60 seconds (120,000).

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

3. 3

   Short-form video was the top ROI-driving content format in HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing Report, cited by 49% of marketers, ahead of long-form video (29%) and live-streaming video (25%).

   Source: HubSpot, 2026 Marketing Statistics, Trends & Data (2026)

4. 4

   TikToks are getting longer: 22% of the 2023 posts in Revid's index ran over one minute, 29% of 2024 posts and 32% of 2025 posts (45% of the 2026 posts indexed so far).

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

5. 5

   In Pew Research Center's 2025 survey, 37% of U.S. adults said they use TikTok, up from 21% in 2021.

   Source: Pew Research Center, Americans' Social Media Use 2025 (Nov 2025) · 5,022 U.S. adults surveyed Feb. 5 to June 18, 2025

6. 6

   Reels reached an annual revenue run rate of over $50 billion, Meta said on its Q3 2025 earnings call (October 2025).

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q3 2025 Results Conference Call transcript (Oct 2025)

7. 7

   One in five U.S. adults (20%) now regularly get news on TikTok, up from 3% in 2020, according to Pew Research Center (2025).

   Source: Pew Research Center, 1 in 5 Americans now regularly get news on TikTok, up sharply from 2020 (Sep 2025)

8. 8

   Faceless TikToks (no person on screen) had a median of about 198,000 views in Revid's index, 1.9x the 105,000 median of videos built around one person.

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

Revid indexes TikToks with 1,000+ likes and analyzes each one for length, subject, shooting style and format. These are the patterns across the whole index.

1. 16-30 s

   In Revid's index of 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes, videos of 16 to 30 seconds had the highest median views (about 141,000), ahead of videos under 15 seconds (106,000) and 31 to 60 seconds (120,000).

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

2. 25%

   25% of the 16 to 30 second TikToks in Revid's index passed 1 million views, against 18% of videos between 91 seconds and 3 minutes and 18% of videos between 3 and 10 minutes.

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

3. 32%

   TikToks are getting longer: 22% of the 2023 posts in Revid's index ran over one minute, 29% of 2024 posts and 32% of 2025 posts (45% of the 2026 posts indexed so far).

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

4. 1.9x

   Faceless TikToks (no person on screen) had a median of about 198,000 views in Revid's index, 1.9x the 105,000 median of videos built around one person.

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

5. 273k

   Animal-focused TikToks had the highest median of any on-screen subject in Revid's index, about 273,000 views, and 36% of them passed 1 million views.

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

6. 36%

   Storytelling is the most common type of popular TikTok (36% of classified videos in Revid's index), but challenges (median about 227,000 views) and comedy (194,000) get the most views per video.

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

7. 141k

   Handheld TikToks had a median of about 141,000 views in Revid's index, roughly double the 67,000 of selfie-shot videos, though selfie videos earned the most likes per view (9.3%).

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

8. 2.3x

   AI-generated TikToks posted in 2025 had a median of about 152,000 views in Revid's index, 2.3x the 67,000 median of filmed (real-shot) videos, while making up 3.4% of classified 2025 posts.

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

9. 7.9%

   Across 2.39 million popular TikToks in Revid's index, viewers left 7.9% likes per view, 0.50% shares per view and 0.07% comments per view.

   Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

10. 204k

    Among 21,037 TikToks whose production format Revid classified, green-screen memes (median about 204,000 views) and street interviews (200,000) got about 2.2x the median views of talking-head videos (91,000).

    Revid dataSource: Revid TikTok index, 2.39 million TikToks with 1,000+ likes (October 2026)

Who watches short-form video and on which apps, from national surveys and audience studies.

1. 37%

   In Pew Research Center's 2025 survey, 37% of U.S. adults said they use TikTok, up from 21% in 2021.

   Source: Pew Research Center, Americans' Social Media Use 2025 (Nov 2025) · 5,022 U.S. adults surveyed Feb. 5 to June 18, 2025

2. 63%

   About six in ten U.S. adults under 30 (63%) use TikTok, compared with 12% of adults 65 and older, according to Pew Research Center.

   Source: Pew Research Center, 8 facts about Americans and TikTok (Mar 2026) · U.S. adults surveyed Feb. 5 to June 18, 2025

3. 24%

   About a quarter of U.S. adults (24%) say they use TikTok daily, and roughly half of 18- to 29-year-olds go on it at least once a day, per Pew Research Center's 2025 data.

   Source: Pew Research Center, Americans' Social Media Use 2025 (Nov 2025) · 5,123 U.S. adults surveyed Feb. 24 to March 2, 2025

4. 61%

   In Pew Research Center's 2025 teen survey, 61% of U.S. teens said they use TikTok daily and 55% said the same of Instagram, while roughly three-quarters use YouTube every day.

   Source: Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025 (Dec 2025) · 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17

5. 21%

   21% of U.S. teens say they are on TikTok almost constantly, up from 16% in 2022 (Pew Research Center, 2025).

   Source: Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025 (Dec 2025) · 1,458 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17

6. 42%

   In Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026, 42% of Americans age 12 and older said they currently use TikTok, compared with 54% for Instagram and 68% for Facebook.

   Source: Edison Research (SSRS), The Infinite Dial 2026 (presentation) (Mar 2026) · 2,050 Americans age 12+, surveyed January 2026

7. 29%

   TikTok is the social platform Americans ages 12 to 34 use most often, named by 29% of that group, according to Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026.

   Source: Edison Research (SSRS), The Infinite Dial 2026 (Mar 2026) · 2,050 Americans age 12+, surveyed January 2026

   Base is social media users; 29% name TikTok as the platform they use most often.

8. 92%

   In a Q1 2025 NuVoodoo study of more than 2,900 U.S. consumers, 92% of Gen Z and 90% of Millennials said they watch short-form video frequently or sometimes.

   Source: NuVoodoo Media Services, New Data: Short Form Video Explodes in Popularity (Apr 2025) · Over 2,900 U.S. consumers, Q1 2025

   Frequency, not daily viewing. Only 40% of Gen Z and 46% of Millennials said they watch frequently.

9. 95%

   In Clutch's October 2025 survey of 483 U.S. consumers, 95% said they watch short-form videos regularly and 71% said they engage with them at least once a day.

   Source: Clutch, Creating in the Attention Economy: You Have 30 Seconds or Go Bust (Nov 2025) · 483 U.S. consumers, October 2025

   Small sample that skews older (56% of respondents were 45+). Report page updated March 2026.

10. 61%

    Among U.S. consumers surveyed by Clutch in October 2025, 61% watch YouTube Shorts regularly, 53% watch Instagram Reels and 43% watch TikTok.

    Source: Clutch, Creating in the Attention Economy: You Have 30 Seconds or Go Bust (Nov 2025) · 483 U.S. consumers, October 2025

    Small sample that skews older (56% of respondents were 45+), which likely favors YouTube and Facebook-owned apps.

11. 37%

    Across the Reuters Institute's global sample, the share of people using TikTok for any purpose grew from 15% to 37% in the five years since the pandemic, while 53% use Instagram (Digital News Report 2026).

    Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026: Overview and key findings (Jun 2026) · Online survey across 48 markets

12. 50%

    In Sprout Social's 2026 Content Strategy Report, 50% of social media users said they have a TikTok profile, rising to 72% among Gen Z.

    Source: Sprout Social, Social media video statistics (citing the Sprout Social 2026 Content Strategy Report) (Feb 2026) · 2,300+ consumers in the U.S., U.K. and Australia

13. 37%

    37% of consumers in GWI's research said they had watched YouTube Shorts in the last month, and 35% said they had watched Instagram Reels (GWI, 2025).

    Source: GWI, 8 marketing trends for 2025 (Jan 2025)

    GWI's global consumer survey of internet users; the post does not state the base or fieldwork dates.

14. 98%

    A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that 98% of publicly accessible TikTok videos posted by U.S. adults came from the most active 25% of users, and 52% of U.S. adult TikTok users have ever posted a video.

    Source: Pew Research Center, 8 facts about Americans and TikTok (Mar 2026)

    Study data from 2023, restated in Pew's March 2026 roundup.

Official figures from earnings calls and company newsrooms, plus independent app-usage data, on how big TikTok, Reels, Shorts and Spotlight are.

1. 200B

   YouTube Shorts average over 200 billion daily views, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said on the company's Q2 2025 earnings call (July 2025).

   Source: Alphabet, Alphabet Q2 2025 earnings call: CEO's remarks (Jul 2025)

2. 10M

   As of March 2026, more than 10 million YouTube channels were publishing Shorts each day, according to Alphabet's Q1 2026 earnings call.

   Source: Alphabet, Alphabet earnings call, Q1 2026: Sundar Pichai's remarks (Apr 2026)

3. 2 billion

   Alphabet said in July 2023 that YouTube Shorts were watched by over 2 billion logged-in users every month, up from 1.5 billion a year earlier.

   Source: Alphabet, Alphabet Q2 2023 Earnings Call transcript (Jul 2023)

   Old (2023) but still the most quoted Shorts audience figure; we found no newer official monthly user count in Alphabet's earnings remarks.

4. 30%

   Meta said Instagram Reels watch time grew more than 30% year over year in the U.S. in Q4 2025.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q4 2025 Results Conference Call transcript (Jan 2026)

5. 30%

   Video time spent on Instagram was up more than 30% year over year in Q3 2025, according to Meta's earnings call.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q3 2025 Results Conference Call transcript (Oct 2025)

6. 10%

   Meta reported that ranking improvements made in Q1 2026 drove a 10% lift in Reels time spent on Instagram.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q1 2026 Results Conference Call transcript (Apr 2026)

7. 9%

   Facebook video time spent increased 9% globally year over year in Q2 2026, and over 10% in the U.S. and Canada, Meta said.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q2 2026 Results Conference Call transcript (Jul 2026)

8. 30%

   Same-day posts made up more than 30% of recommended Reels on both Instagram and Facebook in Q1 2026, more than double the level a year earlier, according to Meta.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q1 2026 Results Conference Call transcript (Apr 2026)

9. 4.5B

   Reels were being reshared over 4.5 billion times a day, Meta said on its Q4 2024 earnings call in January 2025.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q4 2024 Results Conference Call transcript (Jan 2025)

10. 200B

    Meta said in July 2023 that Reels plays exceeded 200 billion per day across Facebook and Instagram.

    Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q2 2023 Results Conference Call transcript (Jul 2023)

    Old (2023). It is the last daily plays figure we found in Meta's earnings calls; the later transcripts we checked (Q4 2024 and Q2 2025 to Q2 2026) report watch-time growth instead.

11. 189M

    TikTok reaches 189 million people across the European Union every month, according to its August 2026 Digital Services Act transparency report.

    Source: TikTok, Digital Services Act: Our seventh transparency report on content moderation in Europe (Aug 2026)

    EU only. TikTok does not regularly publish a global monthly user figure.

12. 115%

    In Q2 2026, the number of people posting to Snapchat Spotlight in the U.S. grew more than 115% year over year, and Spotlight daily active viewers grew more than 20%, Snap said.

    Source: Snap Inc., Q2 2026 Prepared Remarks (Aug 2026)

13. 11%

    Total time spent watching Snapchat Spotlight rose 11% year over year in Q1 2026, while Spotlight shares and reposts grew 62% globally and 124% in the U.S., according to Snap.

    Source: Snap Inc., Q1 2026 Investor Letter (May 2026)

14. 83M h/day

    In Q4 2024 (quarter to date), U.S. app users spent 83 million hours a day on TikTok, 52 million on YouTube Shorts, 27 million on Instagram Reels, 26 million on Facebook Reels and 2 million on Snapchat Spotlight, according to Sensor Tower.

    Source: Sensor Tower, MMM: 2024 Advertising Recap (Dec 2024)

    Sensor Tower panel estimates for the U.S.; late-2024 data.

15. 5.91

    In Metricool's 2024 Short-Form Video Study, YouTube Shorts had the highest engagement ratio (5.91), ahead of TikTok (5.75), Instagram Reels (5.53) and Facebook Reels (2.07).

    Source: Metricool, 2024 Short-Form Video Study: Comparing Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels and TikTok Videos (May 2024) · 305,341 Shorts, 747,071 TikTok videos, 1,687,846 Instagram Reels and 694,683 Facebook Reels from accounts connected to Metricool

    Vendor benchmark from 2024, not a platform-wide average. Often quoted as '5.91%' without the source or year.

16. 25%

    More than 25% of channels in the YouTube Partner Program were earning money through Shorts revenue sharing about a year after it launched, YouTube said in March 2024.

    Source: YouTube, Sharing your passion on YouTube pays off: An update on Shorts revenue share (Mar 2024)

What viewers say they prefer and how short videos feed into purchases.

1. 63%

   When asked how they would most like to learn about a product or service, 63% of consumers in Wyzowl's 2026 survey chose a short video, ahead of text articles (12%) and infographics (7%).

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

   Small sample. The same question returned 73% in Wyzowl's 2022 report, 44% in 2024 and 78% in 2025, so year matters when quoting it.

2. 42%

   42% of U.S. consumers in Clutch's October 2025 survey said they had bought a product or service after watching a brand's short-form video, while 45% of Gen Z respondents said they had not even considered it.

   Source: Clutch, Creating in the Attention Economy: You Have 30 Seconds or Go Bust (Nov 2025) · 483 U.S. consumers, October 2025

3. 3 in 8

   In Adobe Express's 2024 survey of short-form video users in the U.S. and U.K., three in eight people said they had bought a product or service after watching a short video about it, and 20% of those impulse buys happened within an hour.

   Source: Adobe Express, Short-form video: Top platforms, preferences, and purchasing patterns (Sep 2024) · 1,006 users of TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook short-form video (51% U.S., 49% U.K.)

4. 62%

   In a 2024 Pew Research Center study, 62% of U.S. adult TikTok users said they use the app to look at product reviews or recommendations.

   Source: Pew Research Center, 8 facts about Americans and TikTok (Mar 2026)

   2024 Pew-Knight Initiative study, restated in Pew's March 2026 roundup. Entertainment was the top reason (95%).

5. 85%

   85% of people in Wyzowl's 2026 survey said they had been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a video.

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

   Covers video in general, not only short-form. Small sample.

6. 84%

   84% of consumers in Wyzowl's 2026 survey said they want to see more videos from brands in 2026.

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

   Covers video in general. Wyzowl says the figure has stayed within 8 points for eight years.

7. 52%

   52% of social media users said they are most likely to interact with short-form video (under 60 seconds) on Instagram, while only 19% favor videos longer than 60 seconds, according to Sprout Social's 2026 Content Strategy Report.

   Source: Sprout Social, Social media video statistics (citing the Sprout Social 2026 Content Strategy Report) (Feb 2026) · 2,300+ consumers in the U.S., U.K. and Australia

8. 44%

   44% of U.S. consumers in Clutch's October 2025 survey said they prefer casual, authentic videos from independent creators over polished brand spots.

   Source: Clutch, Creating in the Attention Economy: You Have 30 Seconds or Go Bust (Nov 2025) · 483 U.S. consumers, October 2025

9. 32%

   TikTok was the preferred short-form video platform for 32% of users in Adobe Express's 2024 survey, rising to 58% among Gen Z, while 55% of baby boomers preferred YouTube.

   Source: Adobe Express, Short-form video: Top platforms, preferences, and purchasing patterns (Sep 2024) · 1,006 users of TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook short-form video (51% U.S., 49% U.K.)

How many marketers use short-form video, where they publish it and what return they report.

1. 60%

   60% of marketers use short-form video in their content strategy, making it the most-used content format, according to HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing data.

   Source: HubSpot, The Future of Social Media [Research]: What Marketers Need to Know in 2026 (Sep 2026)

2. 49%

   Short-form video was the top ROI-driving content format in HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing Report, cited by 49% of marketers, ahead of long-form video (29%) and live-streaming video (25%).

   Source: HubSpot, 2026 Marketing Statistics, Trends & Data (2026)

   Share of marketers ranking each format among their top ROI drivers. Another HubSpot post gives the unrounded figure as 48.6% ranking short-form in their top three.

3. 30%

   Short-form video is the format receiving the most planned investment for 2026, with 30% of marketers planning to put more budget into it than into any other format (HubSpot, 2026).

   Source: HubSpot, The Future of Social Media [Research]: What Marketers Need to Know in 2026 (Sep 2026)

4. 48%

   Among content types within short-form video, funny content yields the highest ROI according to 48% of marketers in HubSpot's 2026 research.

   Source: HubSpot, The Future of Social Media [Research]: What Marketers Need to Know in 2026 (Sep 2026)

5. 91%

   91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, according to Wyzowl's Video Marketing Statistics 2026 survey.

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

   All video, not only short-form. Small sample.

6. 82%

   82% of marketers in Wyzowl's 2026 survey said video marketing gives them a good ROI, down from an all-time high of 93% the year before.

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

   All video, not only short-form. Small sample.

7. 92%

   92% of marketers in Wyzowl's 2026 survey plan to spend around the same or more on video marketing in 2026.

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

8. 69%

   69% of video marketers in Wyzowl's 2026 survey have created social media videos, the most common use case, just ahead of explainer videos (68%).

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

9. 40%

   40% of video marketers in Wyzowl's 2026 survey use TikTok, compared with 82% who use YouTube, and 29% rate TikTok as effective for video marketing.

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

   Sample skews toward B2B-leaning marketers (LinkedIn is used by 70%).

10. 67%

    Over half of companies repurpose their videos into social clips, according to Wistia's 2026 State of Video Report; LinkedIn is the top destination (67% of teams post clips there), followed by Instagram (49%) and YouTube (41%), while about one in five share clips on TikTok.

    Source: Wistia, 2026 State of Video Report (Apr 2026) · 900+ professionals surveyed, plus data from 13 million+ videos and 79 million hours of viewing on Wistia

    Wistia's customer base skews B2B.

11. 58%

    58% of U.S. small business owners surveyed by Adobe Express in 2026 had used TikTok for business promotions, and 38% relied on TikTok influencers for product sales or promotions, up from 25% in 2024.

    Source: Adobe Express, Using TikTok as a search engine (Feb 2026) · 807 U.S. consumers and 200 U.S. small business owners, surveyed early 2026

Ad revenue and spending figures for short-form and social video from platforms and industry bodies.

1. $50B

   Reels reached an annual revenue run rate of over $50 billion, Meta said on its Q3 2025 earnings call (October 2025).

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q3 2025 Results Conference Call transcript (Oct 2025)

   Run rate across Meta's apps (Instagram and Facebook), not Instagram alone.

2. #

   In the U.S., YouTube Shorts now earn more revenue per watch hour than traditional in-stream YouTube videos, Alphabet said in October 2025.

   Source: Alphabet, Alphabet Q3 2025 earnings call: CEO's remarks (Oct 2025)

   In July 2025 Alphabet said Shorts had reached parity with in-stream on this measure.

3. $80B

   U.S. digital video ad spending is projected to surpass $80 billion in 2026, growing 11% year over year, according to IAB's 2026 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report.

   Source: IAB, U.S. Digital Video Ad Spend to Surpass $80B in 2026 (2026 IAB Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report: Part One) (May 2026)

   IAB counts YouTube within social video; the figure covers CTV, online video and social video.

4. 13%

   U.S. social video ad spend is set to grow 13% in 2026, outpacing connected TV (11%) for the first time, according to IAB.

   Source: IAB, U.S. Digital Video Ad Spend to Surpass $80B in 2026 (2026 IAB Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report: Part One) (May 2026)

5. $23.7B

   U.S. social video ad spend rose 21% to $23.7 billion in 2024 and was projected to reach $27.2 billion in 2025, according to IAB's 2025 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report.

   Source: IAB, Digital Video Is Set to Capture Nearly 60% of All TV/Video Ad Spend in 2025 (Apr 2025)

   IAB's social video category includes YouTube.

6. $17B

   EMARKETER forecasts that TikTok will generate over $17 billion in U.S. ad revenue in 2026.

   Source: EMARKETER, TikTok Will Generate Over $17 Billion in US Ad Revenue in 2026 (chart, US Social Network Ad Spending Forecast H2 2025) (Sep 2025)

   Forecast published September 2025; EMARKETER updates its forecasts.

7. $37B

   U.S. creator economy ad spend was projected to reach $37 billion in 2025, growing 26% and about four times faster than the media industry overall, according to IAB.

   Source: IAB, Creator Economy 2025: Ad Spend & Strategies (Nov 2025)

   Covers all creator content and paid amplification, not only short-form video.

8. $10B

   Revenue run rate for Meta's partnership ads, driven by brands turning to creators to promote products, more than doubled year over year in Q1 2026 to $10 billion.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q1 2026 Results Conference Call transcript (Apr 2026)

9. $7.8B

   Deloitte predicts in-app revenue from micro-series (serialized short-form video, also called micro-dramas) will more than double to $7.8 billion in 2026, up from a forecast $3.8 billion in 2025.

   Source: Deloitte, TMT Predictions 2026: Tiny episodes, massive appeal: Short-form serials are gaining viewers (Nov 2025)

   In-app (consumer) revenue for micro-drama apps, not advertising.

10. 41%

    41% of marketers in Wyzowl's 2026 survey said they had spent money on video ads that year, up from 36% the year before.

    Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

How people use TikTok and other video platforms to get news and look things up.

1. 20%

   One in five U.S. adults (20%) now regularly get news on TikTok, up from 3% in 2020, according to Pew Research Center (2025).

   Source: Pew Research Center, 1 in 5 Americans now regularly get news on TikTok, up sharply from 2020 (Sep 2025)

   Pew says no social media platform it studies has seen faster growth in news consumption over that span.

2. 43%

   43% of U.S. adults under 30 regularly get news on TikTok, up from 9% in 2020 (Pew Research Center, 2025).

   Source: Pew Research Center, 1 in 5 Americans now regularly get news on TikTok, up sharply from 2020 (Sep 2025)

3. 55%

   More than half of U.S. adult TikTok users (55%) regularly get news on the platform, up from 22% in 2020, according to Pew Research Center.

   Source: Pew Research Center, 1 in 5 Americans now regularly get news on TikTok, up sharply from 2020 (Sep 2025)

4. 77%

   77% of people across the 48 markets in the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026 watch online news video each week, a majority in every market for the first time.

   Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026: Overview and key findings (Jun 2026)

5. 54%

   Social media and video networks became the single most widely used way to access online news for the first time in 2026, used by 54% of respondents versus 51% for news organizations' own websites and apps (Reuters Institute).

   Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026: Overview and key findings (Jun 2026)

6. 20%

   TikTok is used for news by 20% of people globally and Instagram by 26%, and the two are the fastest-growing video-led networks, according to the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026.

   Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026: Overview and key findings (Jun 2026)

7. 10%

   TikTok news use varies widely by country: 10% in the U.S. and 7% in the U.K., but more than half of respondents in Thailand and Kenya (Reuters Institute, 2026).

   Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026: Overview and key findings (Jun 2026)

8. 65%

   Across all markets in the Reuters Institute's survey, the share of people consuming social video for news grew from 52% in 2020 to 65% in 2025.

   Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2025: Overview and key findings (Jun 2025)

9. 44%

   44% of 18 to 24-year-olds across 48 markets say social media and video networks are their main source of news (Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025).

   Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2025: Overview and key findings (Jun 2025)

10. 49%

    49% of U.S. consumers surveyed by Adobe Express in 2026 said they use TikTok as a search engine, up from 41% in Adobe's 2024 survey.

    Source: Adobe Express, Using TikTok as a search engine (Feb 2026) · 807 U.S. consumers and 200 U.S. small business owners, surveyed early 2026

    'Use TikTok as a search engine' is self-reported and does not mean TikTok replaced Google: 89% of Gen Z respondents still prefer Google over all other platforms.

11. 4%

    The share of Gen Z consumers who are more likely to rely on TikTok than Google for search fell from 8% in 2024 to 4% in 2026, according to Adobe Express surveys.

    Source: Adobe Express, Using TikTok as a search engine (Feb 2026) · 807 U.S. consumers and 200 U.S. small business owners, surveyed early 2026

12. 58%

    The number of people using TikTok to keep up with the news has risen 58% since Q4 2021, according to GWI.

    Source: GWI, Social media statistics for brands in 2026 (Feb 2026)

    Relative growth in GWI's survey; post updated February 2026.

Original research on video length, completion and how fast a video has to earn attention.

1. 71%

   71% of marketers in Wyzowl's 2026 survey believe videos between 30 seconds and 2 minutes are the most effective length.

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

2. 65%

   When a business video is under 1 minute long, 65% of viewers stay engaged to the end, compared with 20% for videos over 20 minutes, according to Vidyard's 2024 benchmark data.

   Source: Vidyard, Video in Business Benchmark Report (2024)

   Vidyard platform data on business and sales videos (the report cites analysis of nearly 1 million videos), not social feeds.

3. 88%

   88% of U.S. consumers in Clutch's October 2025 survey said a video needs to grab their attention in 30 seconds or less, and only 9% said they give short-form videos their full attention.

   Source: Clutch, Creating in the Attention Economy: You Have 30 Seconds or Go Bust (Nov 2025) · 483 U.S. consumers, October 2025

4. 3 minutes

   YouTube raised the maximum length of Shorts to 3 minutes starting October 15, 2024, for videos with a square or taller aspect ratio.

   Source: YouTube, Tall updates coming to Shorts (Oct 2024)

5. 53%

   53% of influencers prefer to create short-form videos of 15 to 30 seconds for brand partnerships, and only 27% favor content over 60 seconds, according to Sprout Social's influencer research.

   Source: Sprout Social, Social media video statistics (citing the Sprout Social 2026 Content Strategy Report) (Feb 2026)

   Listed on Sprout's page directly after its 2025 Influencer Marketing Report citation (which surveyed 300 influencers); the bullet itself does not repeat the report name.

How fast AI tools are entering short-form video production, from platform disclosures and marketer surveys.

1. 3 billion

   TikTok said in July 2026 that it had labeled over 3 billion videos as AI-generated content, using a combination of Content Credentials, creator labeling tools and invisible watermarking.

   Source: TikTok, Helping people spot and understand AI-generated content on TikTok (Jul 2026)

   In November 2025 TikTok reported 1.3 billion labeled videos.

2. 10%

   Nearly 10% of the Reels people view each day are created in Meta's Edits app, almost triple the share a quarter earlier, Meta said on its Q4 2025 earnings call.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q4 2025 Results Conference Call transcript (Jan 2026)

   Edits is an editing app; this does not mean the Reels were generated by AI.

3. 3%

   Advertisers using Meta's video generation feature saw more than 3% higher conversion rates in tests, and more than 8 million advertisers used at least one of its gen AI ad creative tools in Q1 2026.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q1 2026 Results Conference Call transcript (Apr 2026)

4. 9 million

   9 million small businesses on Meta's platforms were using at least one AI ad creative tool as of Q2 2026, Meta said on its July 2026 earnings call.

   Source: Meta Platforms, Meta Q2 2026 Results Conference Call transcript (Jul 2026)

5. 1 million

   On an average day in December 2025, over one million YouTube channels used YouTube's new AI creation tools, Alphabet said.

   Source: Alphabet, Alphabet earnings, Q4 2025: CEO's remarks (Feb 2026)

   Covers YouTube's AI creation tools generally, not only Shorts.

6. 63%

   63% of video marketers in Wyzowl's 2026 survey said they have used AI video tools to create or edit marketing videos, up from 51% a year earlier.

   Source: Wyzowl, Video Marketing Statistics 2026 (Dec 2025) · 266 respondents (marketers and online consumers), surveyed in late 2025

7. 80%

   80% of marketers use AI for content creation and 75% use it for media production, according to HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing Report.

   Source: HubSpot, 2026 State of Marketing Report (2026)

8. 73%

   73% of marketers already use generative AI tools to create social content, according to HubSpot's social media trends data (2026).

   Source: HubSpot, The Future of Social Media [Research]: What Marketers Need to Know in 2026 (Sep 2026)

9. 2 in 3

   Two in three U.S. digital video ad buyers are live with (21%), testing (20%) or planning to use (25%) agentic AI for digital video campaigns in 2026, according to IAB.

   Source: IAB, U.S. Digital Video Ad Spend to Surpass $80B in 2026 (2026 IAB Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report: Part One) (May 2026)

10. 1 in 3

    More than a third of companies already use AI in their video workflow and nearly a quarter more plan to start soon, with most use concentrated in pre-production, according to Wistia's 2026 State of Video Report.

    Source: Wistia, 2026 State of Video Report (Apr 2026) · 900+ professionals surveyed, plus data from 13 million+ videos and 79 million hours of viewing on Wistia

These numbers appear on many statistics roundups. We could not trace them to a primary source, or the source says something different. Quote them with care.

• “Short-form videos get 2.5x more engagement than long-form videos ("engagement rates up to 250% higher").”

  No primary study found. Yaguara credits Sprout Social, but Sprout's own social media video statistics page (updated March 2026) has no such figure. ShortsIntel credits Vidico (an agency blog), and Wyzowl's blog credits Yaguara, so the citations loop between blogs. No sample, platform or definition of 'engagement' is published anywhere we looked.

  Seen on: clouted.com, marketingltb.com, yaguara.co

• “73% of consumers prefer to watch a short video to learn about a product or service.”

  Outdated. The 73% comes from Wyzowl's 2022 Video Marketing Statistics ('73% said they’d prefer to watch a short video'). Wyzowl's answer to the same question was 69% in 2021, 44% in 2024, 78% in 2025 and 63% in the current 2026 report (266 respondents), so quoting 73% as a 2026 figure is wrong.

  Seen on: yaguara.co, marketingltb.com, clouted.com

• “The global short-form video market is worth $59.09 billion in 2026 and will reach $640.9 billion by 2035 (30.33% CAGR).”

  Credited to Business Research Insights, a paid market-sizing report. Its page blocked automated access and the methodology is not public, so we could not verify it. It is a model forecast for a loosely defined 'market', not measured revenue or ad spend, and it does not match any platform disclosure.

  Seen on: clouted.com

• “85% of marketers say short-form video is the most effective format on social media.”

  No primary survey found. Yaguara cites a Neal Schaffer blog post that no longer contains the figure, and Wyzowl's own blog attributes it to Techjury, another aggregator. It is not in Wyzowl's 2026 survey results or HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing data. HubSpot's comparable 2026 number is 49% of marketers citing short-form video as a top ROI format.

  Seen on: yaguara.co, marketingltb.com, clouted.com

• “90% of Gen Z and Millennials watch short-form videos daily (also circulates, unsourced, as 'over 90% of Gen Z and Millennial users watch short-form videos').”

  Traceable but often misquoted. The source is NuVoodoo's Q1 2025 study of 2,900+ U.S. consumers: 92% of Gen Z and 90% of Millennials watch short-form video 'frequently' or 'sometimes'. The 'daily' version on Clouted's page is wrong, since only 40% of Gen Z and 46% of Millennials said 'frequently'. Zelios credits Marketing LTB, which gives no source. The correctly worded figure is in our verified list.

  Seen on: clouted.com, zelios.agency, marketingltb.com

• “TikTok holds a 40% share of the short-form video market, with YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels at 20% each.”

  No measurement source found. Wyzowl's blog credits SendShort, a tool vendor's blog, and none of the pages define the metric (users, time, views or revenue). Independent usage data contradicts a neat 40/20/20 split: for example, Sensor Tower's late-2024 U.S. hours data put YouTube Shorts well ahead of Instagram Reels.

  Seen on: zelios.agency, marketingltb.com, clouted.com

• “Videos under 90 seconds retain about 50% of viewers on average.”

  No primary dataset found. Wyzowl's blog credits Persuasion Nation and ShortsIntel credits Marketing LTB, both blogs. Wistia's 2026 State of Video says only that shorter videos have higher engagement rates, with no 90-second or 50% figure. The closest original data is Vidyard's 2024 benchmark: 65% of viewers finish business videos under one minute.

  Seen on: zelios.agency, marketingltb.com, clouted.com

• “71% of viewers decide within the first few seconds whether a video is worth watching.”

  Distorted. The earliest version we found is a December 2023 post by research agency Asia Research (cited by Animoto): '71% of TikTok users stop and watch the first three seconds of the video', from a study of sponsored TikTok content. It is about TikTok ads, and it does not say viewers 'decide' anything.

  Seen on: marketingltb.com, clouted.com

• “Short-form video accounts for over 80% of mobile data or internet traffic (Cisco); video will be 82% of internet traffic.”

  Misattributed and outdated. Cisco's Visual Networking Index release of November 2018 forecast that video of all kinds would make up 82% of IP traffic by 2022. It was a 2018 forecast for 2022 and says nothing about short-form video. We found no Cisco source for 'short-form video is 80% of mobile data'.

  Seen on: zelios.agency, yaguara.co, marketingltb.com, clouted.com

• “Ad spending on short-form videos will reach $1.04 trillion in 2026.”

  Implausible for short-form alone. $1.04 trillion is on the scale of the entire global advertising market: Statista's current forecast for total worldwide ad spending across all formats is US$1.25tn in 2026. The page's companion figure ($460.5 billion for the U.S.) also matches total U.S. ad spending scale. We found no forecast of $1.04 trillion for short-form video.

  Seen on: yaguara.co

• “Short-form video ad spending will reach $111.01 billion in 2025 (9.14% growth) or $145.8 billion by 2028.”

  Could not verify. Statista Market Insights does publish an 'ad spending on short-form videos' line inside its digital video advertising forecast, but the numbers are paywalled (masked on the public page). Clouted credits a site called The Global Statistics, not Statista. These are model estimates that Statista revises over time.

  Seen on: zelios.agency, clouted.com

• “Instagram Reels has 1.8 billion+ users and 200 billion+ daily plays (presented as current).”

  Outdated. Meta said Reels plays exceeded 200 billion per day across Facebook and Instagram combined on its July 2023 earnings call. We found no newer plays figure in the Meta earnings call transcripts we checked (Q4 2024 and Q2 2025 through Q2 2026), and no Meta source for '1.8 billion Reels users'.

  Seen on: clouted.com

• “More than 50% of all Instagram ads ran on Reels in 2025, up from 35% in 2024 (Sensor Tower).”

  Could not verify at the source. The figure comes from Sensor Tower data shared with CNBC for a January 2026 article; we did not find it in Sensor Tower's own published blog posts or reports, so we left it out of the verified list.

  Seen on: postplanify.com

• “Videos under 60 seconds hold about 52% average engagement and 70%+ completion (Wistia 2026 State of Video, 13M+ videos).”

  Not in the source. Wistia's 2026 State of Video Report (900+ professionals, 13 million+ videos) states that shorter videos have higher engagement rates, but its published text contains no 52% or 70% figure for videos under 60 seconds.

  Seen on: zelios.agency