These 5 tech-trends are transforming the way content is created and consumed

When Apple launched its smartphone in 2007, little did the world know that the small screen devices will soon upend the online world. Businesses had to scramble to adopt the Mobile First approach and those who still haven’t, continue to miss the massive opportunity. Consumers spend a significant amount of daily time on their smartphones and use it as a preferred medium for researching before doing any purchase.

Mobile gives consumers a freedom to consume digital content at all times and places. This means businesses have more opportunities to display and advertise their content. Naturally, the formats have changed over the years and businesses are exploring new mediums and delivery channels.

Textual content

Long form journalism still exists, but certainly, has lost its popularity. With the democratization of distribution and the atomization of content, the readership for traditional newspapers has been declining at an alarming rate. While some may call it an evolution, the fact remains that people are unlikely to read a long article on their mobile phone where there are many other apps and notifications distracting them every now and then. However, there is still some hope for those who like to read in depth articles.

Spritz has developed a technology which makes “the reading experience more focused and efficient, resulting in less effort with the best comprehension.” The technology helps readers to increase their reading speed, and read articles across all screen sizes. Since its launch, the technology has been adopted by leading publishers across the globe.

Automated Content

Again the impact of technology is not restricted to reading; it’s also impacting the way articles are generated. Automated Insights offers Artificial Intelligence (AI) based natural language generation platform to publishers, which is being used extensively in publishing articles for sports and stock markets. The platform helps publishers create thousands of stories, reports, and articles within no time. Further, AI is not restricted to textual content. The Grid offers an AI engine named Molly, which creates web-pages with minimal human intervention. If webpages aren’t impressive enough, one can check out IBM Watson’s AI engine which recently spooked everyone by creating the following movie trailer:

360° Video and VR Content

While traditional long-form journalism has its own flavor, the consumers are inclined towards hyper-immersive formats such as 360° videos and Virtual Reality (VR) content. News providers such as ABC, CBS and New York Times are now offering an increasing number of 360° videos and VR content to engage their viewers. The trend is not limited to journalism; the technology first introduced for gaming and entertainment has become popular among retailers as a preferred medium for consumer engagement.

Driven by mobile based VR products, the Global VR content market is expected to grow at an exponential rate and is estimated to be worth $70 billion by 2020. For some perspective, that’s roughly the current market value of Uber.

OTT Video

OTT video refers to “Over The Top” content broadcasting by service providers such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. It is increasingly becoming popular over traditional broadcasting, as consumers get more choice and freedom to watch their favorite shows in their own time. With high-speed connectivity, connected TVs and smartphones entering every major market around the globe, the infrastructure is already mature for OTT to become a global phenomenon.

Media companies have a lot to gain by making their video content available via the internet “over the top” of traditional broadcasting channels. For OTT service providers, there is a huge demand from emerging economies where most of this content is consumed on mobile phones, which is in contrast to the trends in the West. This perhaps explains why Indians are the fastest in the world at binge watching.

Further, OTT video content is ideal for LIVE events like concerts and sports. Twitter recently experimented with the format paying NFL a reported $10 million to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games for free. Around 20 million viewers followed these live streams. The experiment is seen as a major success for the company which has struggled to increase its user base over the years.

LIVE Streaming

“People comment 10 times more on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos” – says Facebook. In recent times, LIVE streaming with its inherent “must-see hype” has become a major priority for Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and YouTube, who are investing heavily on building their LIVE stream platforms as a default for everyone else. Though there is no clear leader at the moment, more and more brands are banking on LIVE streaming as it provides higher user engagement and instant feedback.

It is clear that the trends in content creation and distribution are changing rapidly with mobile still being central to all developments. Brands need higher agility to stay on top of these trends and make most of the opportunities in the digital space.

Credencys Solutions Inc is a leading software development services and solutions provider which has helped numerous businesses in their business growth. Subscribe to Insights by Credencys for similar company updates along with articles on business management, technology, strategy, leadership, and more.