Some Experimental Phone-First Place Reports

Some Experimental Phone-First Place Reports

Betty's Neck
Betty's Neck

Instagram and YouTube have woken up to the TikTok threat. Which means that there are now 3 phone-first platforms available for Place Reports. 

I tried them out. 

I had to admit, the idea was appealing: Why blog boringly on when you can choose short and punchy? 

1.

First, a quick try-out of a DJI Mini2 drone, in front of the house, maybe 3 feet off the ground. I uploaded it to YouTube "Shorts". The embedded version, below, doesn't really capture it -- with those ungainly black bars on either side. Works much better on a phone. If you're looking at this on your phone, you're probably saying, "What? Looks fine." Not if you're on a laptop. 

So for optimal viewing experience, you have to be on YouTube, on your phone. 

2.

Below, an embed post to Instagram "Reels." The embedded web version cropped it into a square, even though the original is formatted for a phone -- more vertical. I guessed that IG wasn't wasting any effort on making "Reels" work on the Web.

Then few days later, it appeared in a vertical orientation. 

I added these last few sentences, as an update. And it went back to displaying as a square. This is on Chrome. When I switched to Safari, it looks fine.

Now I'm eager to check back here in a day or two. (A week later, still square on Chrome.)

But fine on the phone. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by dcdenison (@dcdenison)

 

3.

Here we are on TikTok -- with a drone shot up and over Betty's Neck. This embedded web version captures the vertical phone format, at least. But the first version I posted went bad after a week or so. Maybe a TikTok embedded link expires? Just reposted this on June 19, 2021. Let's see how long it lasts. (Two weeks later, still live.)

@dcdenison

 

♬ original sound - dcdenison

4.

Another YouTube Short, with those black bars in the web version. Not good, right?

Conclusion:

I like posting 10-second updates in the vertical phone formats, but when I update them to the web, I'm going to stick with plain ol' YouTube, in the traditional 16:9 format. 

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