Brief:

• Snap announced that Snapchat shows, a short-form serialized video format for professional content providers like NBCUniversal, is now being extended to creators on the social media platform, according to Variety. Snap disclosed the change Thursday at the Vidcon event in Anaheim, California.
• Sean Mills, Snap's director of content partnerships, announced at the event that the first such show will feature makeup artist Patrick Starrr. It will have a makeover tutorial format and is expected to launch on the Discover Platform later this year.
• Snap, Facebook, Twitter and Twitch all hold a major presence at Vidcon this week, unlike the past eight years when Google's YouTube dominated the annual event. Creators have fled YouTube over frustrations about how crowded the platform has become and how it's handled brand-safety issues that have damaged their businesses, Digiday reported.

Insight:

Snap is now trying to aggressively compete for the loyalty of creators and influencers who develop large followings on video platforms. It's gradually expanded video content on its Discover platform that features shows produced by major media companies, but has faced criticism for mostly ignoring influencers. Meanwhile, Facebook and Instagram are touting the ways they can help influencers monetize their content strategies. Facebook this month launched services to attract gamers who stream their game play online for others to watch, like Amazon Twitch, and to help content creators develop more engaging video for Facebook Live. Instagram introduced IGTV this week, an app for watching long-form, vertical video from content creators.

Snap's push for influencers was the company's second Show-related announcement this week. The company also expanded its original programming to include soft-scripted docu-series, a reality genre that gives people loose instructions on scenarios to act out. Bunim-Murray Productions is creating the first docu-series Snapchat Show starring teen YouTube creator Summer Mckeen.

Video content is an important way for social media companies to grow ad sales, especially as audiences shift their viewing to mobile platforms over the next five years. Mobile is forecast to account for 72% of the growth in spending on online video advertising, while its share of the online video ad market will grow from 50% this year to 59% by 2023, per a study by Forrester Research. Nielsen data show that smartphone share of online video time per person grew from 21% in 2016 to 30% in 2017.