How Short-Form Clips Took Over the Internet

Elson explains how figures like Andrew Tate pioneered armies of paid clippers to flood social platforms with content and how the viewership numbers on clips often perform better than the original shows. Warzel and Elson discuss what this means for legacy media organizations, as well as the broader societal costs of phone-driven attention erosion.The following is a transcript of the episode: Ed Elson: I think it’s incumbent on everyone who cares about their work in media to think quite deeply about this question and recognize that if they’re not watching you, they’re watching Nick Fuentes, they’re watching Hasan Piker, they’re watching Clavicular. They’re watching all of these guys. If you don’t get yourself out there on these social-media platforms, that’s who’s gonna fill the void. [Music]Charlie Warzel: I’m Charlie Warzel, and this is Galaxy Brain, a show where today we’re going to talk about clips.There’s a good chance, if you spend a decent amount of time online, that a lot of the media you’re consuming is coming in the form of short-form video clips. Instagram Reels, videos on X, TikToks, YouTube shorts, and whatever is happening on Facebook. While writing this, I opened up my Instagram account, and here’s what I saw in order: a snippet of Kevin Hart talking about his tequila business on a popular tech podcast. A clip of pop singer Dua Lipa interviewing a playwright for her book-club podcast. A short video of my favorite band, Goose, shredding in St. Augustine, Florida. And a quick CBS Sports clip of two PGA Tour golfers talking before a sudden-death playoff in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Only two of those posts come fr