What started out as millennial targeted apps for networking and connecting, has developed into the most utilized platform for marketing strategies across the world. Today, take a look at any social media platform and you’ll find global brands, small creative agencies, political groups and even market-leading influencers all vying for attention among high-value, cutting-edge video content. Within social video, the power to influence, create, and share your point of view has never been easier to harness or take advantage of. 

Unsurprisingly, a global pandemic provided social video an opportunity to boom both in opportunity and inspiration. Among the more viral social video content of 2021, the shift away from majority user generated content to branded engagement reflected the industry’s evolution to represent the world on a deeper level. National Geographic‘s #ThinkBeforeYouLike campaign, aimed to educate users on the ongoing cheetah exploitation and smuggling ring, urging users to refrain from liking and sharing pet cheetah cub photos to discourage trafficking. The HHS COVID-19 Public Education Campaign used #WECANDOTHIS aimed at increasing public confidence in the vaccines while educating on prevention measures.

Mirroring the video content boom within the social video landscape, The Telly Awards have followed suit to expand its Social Video category offerings to reflect the present landscape and world events. Categories now include:

• Health & Safety – A necessary topic a pandemic only just brought to the spotlight, the significance of work that covers the health of our community and education of safe practices
• Hybrid Events – An industry shutdown forced much needed innovation within production practices, spotlighting the power of virtual events. As things return to any semblance of normal, these methods are here to stay and so is the innovation.
• Social Responsibility – Now more than ever, the world is reliant on the support and cooperation of its own community. Our responsibility to each other is paramount to the success of our world, our industry, and our personal growth.
• Recruitment – In a competitive labor market, organizations have needed to be unconventional in their methods of recruiting A-list talent.
• Sustainability – The importance of protecting our earth’s environment and resources has only recently become a mainstream media concern, and the discussion on sustainability is supreme.
• Workplace Culture –  To reflect how a global pandemic has altered the way organizations build their culture and what talent are willing to accept
• Documentary – To celebrate those who are doing the important work of documenting our world events in contemporary and inspiring ways.