Formats

How short video is made, and why some of it travels.

A field guide to the challenge reel: slap, food, slime, rock-paper-scissors

The playground games of 2026's short video are the games everyone already knows, filmed in one take with the stakes raised. A guide to the formats, why they travel, and what the platform's own tools do for them.

September 25, 2026 · 4 min read

Formats · Platforms

YouTube Shorts vs Instagram Reels: the spec sheet, side by side

Length, shape, resolution, music and what each platform will and will not recommend: the rules for the two short-video formats, taken from the platforms' own documentation.

September 25, 2026 · 3 min read