Video Essays and the Crave for Long form Content: A Written Essay.

If you’re like me and spend an inordinate amount of time on YouTube, you may have noticed an influx of video essays which are long-form videos of people talking about a specific topic. These topics range from a recap of the show Glee to the history of amusement park rides. If a person can talk about it for a few minutes, it can and will be made into a video essay.

While there has been an increase in the format’s popularity, video essays have already existed on the platform for years. CGP Grey created brief videos explaining misunderstood or unknown topics. Lindsay Ellis had been getting millions of views for years before the format became popular. Every Frame a Painting published multiple videos dissecting movies and films from 2014 to 2016. Contrapoints remains a popular video essayist who often dives into politics and gender.

Video essays have evolved both in their format and popularity. YouTube searches for “video essays” have rapidly increased since 2022. More creators are joining the video essay boom and exploring a wide range of topics, but why? Well, there are a few reasons.

1. YouTube prioritizes watch time when deciding if it should recommend a video to other watchers. Video essays tend to be on the longer side, so longer videos = more recommendations = more views.

2. The barrier of entry for these videos is very low. All a person needs is a camera to film themselves talking. Newer smartphones have exceptional quality and make the recording process easy. Free video editing software with hours of free tutorials exists for anyone to make basic edits.

3. YouTube has been a haven for educational content. These essays fit a perfect niche of entertainment and education.

The average length of the 20 most viewed video essays this past year was around 1 hour, but times are extremely varied. One essay about the Nickelodeon show Victorious clocks in at 8 hours. There is no minimum length a video has to reach to be considered an essay, but most surpass the 10-minute mark. These movie-length videos are a bit of an anomaly when you consider the popularity of short-form content like TikTok and the idea that young people have the attention span of a goldfish.

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People often criticize the short attention span of Gen-Z and Millennials, but these are the main consumers and creators of video essays. Younger generations also consume podcasts at a voracious rate, with Gen-Z reporting the highest percentage of podcast listening. Plus, many people actively listen to podcasts as opposed to throwing them on as background noise. Clearly, that attention span isn't as short as some people think it is.

Putting the variable video length aside, another interesting aspect of video essays is the topics they cover. As mentioned previously, these essays can be about anything under the sun. The wide world of the internet shows the vast amount of online communities that exist. Every piece of media, no matter how obscure, seemingly has a group of die-hard fans rallied behind it. This means that a person can make a video essay about anything that interests them and can be assured there is an audience for it.

Without defined video lengths or topics, it can leave people wondering as to what qualifies as a video essay? Most videos can be clearly broken down into a basic essay format with an introduction, thesis statement, body, and conclusion. The essays can be argumentative, persuasive, or informative. To put it most simply, a video essay is a person talking in depth about a topic they researched.

Sometimes video essays take on creative formats. Iceberg videos explore lore surrounding media while slowly diving deeper into little-known facts; however these “facts” can sometimes border on rumors. The format name comes from the idiom “the tip of the iceberg.” The deeper into the iceberg a person goes, the more obscure the facts they find.

I’ve watched a few of these hour-plus-long videos and found myself being absorbed in the content and commentary. Depending on the research and work, some videos feel more like a documentary than a basic essay.

One of the most profound video essays I've ever watched was about the Disney channel theme by the channel Defunctland. Disney Channel’s Theme: A History Mystery is an hour and a half long and tries to answer the question of who composed the four-note theme that is used during Disney ad breaks. The simple investigation leads to dead end after dead end. I don't want to spoil the video because it truly brought tears to my eyes, and I think everyone should experience it for themselves.

I had always enjoyed video essays, but this one showed me how they could be historical archives for our generation. YouTube is like a digital version of the Library of Alexandria, with content containing hours upon hours of human knowledge distilled into easy-to-consume videos. Pop culture moments, little-known media, and obscure historical facts are preserved in a neat format. It's pretty marvelous when you think about it.