In today’s digital age, video is intricately intertwined with our lives and our societies. In just over a century, video technology has changed the way humans communicate, entertain and educate each other. It’s hard for many of us to imagine what life would be like without video, because it’s now one of the most important tools we have today.

Video helps us educate and inform each other

A majority of people are visual learners. They learn best when they can visually see how they can apply information to their own lives. Video allows them to form a personal connection with the information and stories they’re watching. It’s an effective way to deliver information and communicate its importance to the people watching. Live news broadcasts and documentaries are effective at putting people into the shoes of the subjects in the video, allowing viewers to empathize and connect with the information presented.

Video is also highly distributable. Today’s digital age allows video to spread across the world in a matter of seconds. Video has helped democratize people’s access to education, meaning they no longer have to travel to universities to attend college courses. Online learning is advancing quickly and being integrated into our education systems — allowing students to go to their dream school no matter where they live.

It’s a powerful marketing tool

As video technology progresses, marketers understand how powerful video is as a marketing tool. According to Hubspot, 72% of customers would rather learn about a product or service through video. Video is easy for people to engage with because it can present information about a product or service directly to viewers. Video advertisements help people see the product or service in action and allows them to imagine themselves using it.

In modern times, marketing requires extensive outreach — connecting to as many people as possible. Online, video is the most likely type of content to go viral and reach the largest amount of people. Social media platforms allow video to be shared to massive amounts of people. Google is also more likely to recommend websites if they feature videos. With the potentiality of videos going viral, marketers use it to spread the word about their services.

Today, one of the most popular pastimes is watching video — either through traditional television broadcasts or online. In the United States, there were over 2.6 billion digital video viewers in 2019 and 85% of all internet users watched online video content monthly in 2018. Also, a Nielsen study found that from 2019 to 2020, there were 120.6 million TV households in the US. While there are millions of TV households, another Nielsen study shows the younger generations prefer to watch video on the internet. Nevertheless, all generations watch video in some fashion — no matter the device they use.

We’re in an unprecedented period of video, a moment where independent creators can grow their brands and become celebrities to all generations. All of the major social media platforms, such as YouTube, TikTok, Twitch and Facebook rely on the video made by their creators to keep their users engaged with the platform.

We can document history no matter where it is

There are so many stories to be told around the world. Video is one of the most accessible ways for people to record what is happening in their own worlds. It allows us to document all the triumphs in our communities and the issues we all face. The stories we record become documents of time. With the accessibility of video, both global (such as an election) and personal milestones (such as a family vacation or a graduation). Today, we’re all able to record the stories and events most important to us, and we have video to thank for that.

Video will always be a critical part of our lives

Video is an essential part of people’s daily lives. In just a decade, video’s completely reformed many of our societies and will continue to as technology continues to develop. It educates, informs, spreads word of new/exciting services, entertains and records history. The foundation of many societies and it will continue to support, engage and inspire future generations to come.

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