In recent years, a very specific style of video editing has almost guaranteed success on social media. Known as “retention editing” for its unique ability to keep users glued to the screen, this style features loud sound effects, fast cuts, flashing lights, and no pauses.
Fast-growing accounts on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are using retention editing. Massive content creators like Dylan Huynh and Matthew Beem are leveraging this to attract hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Nick Cicero, who teaches social media and digital marketing at Syracuse University, said retention editing has become the dominant format for videos across the creator economy. “These media and platforms have periods and periods where different styles of content emerge,” he said. “There's a kind of overwhelming bubble of editing styles going on right now. This is a preservation editing period.”
“This is the beast of YouTube,” said Noah Kettle, co-founder of video editing and social media monetization consultancy Mork Media. MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) has built a reputation for creating highly engaging, fast-paced videos that frequently feature action on screen. As a result, small-scale YouTubers and content creators have started imitating his style.
But the style that made some of the biggest influencers famous may have peaked, and there are signs that the wave of retention edits is starting to subside.This month Donaldson Tweeted a plea to fellow YouTubers To “get rid of the era of hyper-fast pace of content/overstimulation”. Over the past year, he said he has slowed down his videos, focused on storytelling, “let scenes breathe, cut down on screaming” and focused on longer videos, which has resulted in even more views.
Other creators, such as YouTuber Sam Slek, have begun to amass millions of subscribers by posting videos with little editing, perhaps because users are following the current mainstream style. I think it's a sign that you're bored.
Experts say such changes could have a ripple effect on the content creator industry and have a significant impact on business. For example, if content creators require fewer editorial resources, the external editing services that many content creators use could be threatened.
Creating a save editing video requires a lot of effort. “Every clip in the video must be no more than two seconds long,” said Darapesheva, 17, who works as a freelance video editor for social media content creators. She said, “Every 1.3 to 1.5 seconds, you need to move a new graphic or something. [use] Lots of effects. I need to add sound effects to all images and all transitions. Flashing graphics are required and all videos must have subtitles. ”
Since the rise of short-form video apps like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, it's become more difficult than ever to capture your audience's attention. Social media video editors say TikTok trains users to scroll away if they're not hooked within the first half second. This is why so many save compilation videos start with a loud bang or whoosh. It asks the viewer to pay attention and tries to hold that attention with flashing graphics and sound effects.
Pesheva said retention editing is to blame for young people's alleged struggle to stay focused. “People my age have trouble concentrating,” Pesheva said. “Their attention spans are very short. They're used to TikTok, so editors have to adjust to his Gen Z audience. If it's not funny, people won't listen to something for more than a second.” You have to adjust to the fact that you can’t keep your attention.”
New video editing tools are also contributing to the use of retention editing. CapCut, a video editing platform owned by TikTok's parent company ByteDance, allows users to add catchy sounds and special effects to videos with just a few taps. Now anyone, including children, can create videos with tons of explosions, laser effects, and animated text. Replicating the same effect in older video editing tools like Adobe Premiere or After Effects can take hours and is much more complex.
“CapCut has a lot of presets,” says Kettle. “You don't have to spend hours learning it. CapCut and other easy iPhone apps have made it possible for more people to edit. But at the same time, because everyone uses the same basic tools. , it also helps that everyone has the same style. I've seen 10-15 creators use the exact same animated on-screen money effect, and it's all due to CapCut. Thing.”
David McNamee, head of brand at a social media and digital agency in Los Angeles, says brands are not only asking for this style of video, but also because it's so effective at capturing the interest of young people. He also said that he often recommends it. Note. “I've told clients to style it this way because it's now a huge, instantly recognizable format,” he said.
“It's designed to be addictive,” McNamee said. “It's like a slot machine with extra features to keep you entertained. It's very bright and noisy. It doesn't matter what the content is. This is because your brain thinks it's funny because it's flashy. ”
Connor Bibou, a freelance videographer in Georgia, says it's no surprise that retention editing works well on a children's channel like Mr. Beast because the editing format is very similar to children's cartoons. he said. “There’s a lot of noise and bright colors,” he said.
The rise of artificial intelligence has made it easier to create videos like this, contributing to the archival editing boom. Tools like Captions.ai and Veed.io provide a suite of powerful AI-enabled creative tools that creators use to create retained editorial content, and AI-focused said Chaso Thavaseelen, content creator and social media strategist. “There's a big trend in creators over-editing,” Tavasiren says. “Many creators are going viral because the AI tools that are out there have made it easy to create that style.”
Tavasiren said he started leveraging retention editing after seeing MrBeast talk about it. “Mr. Beast is very open and transparent about his content and tells people what he says,” Tavasiren said. “He tells people they need to optimize retention. Many of the clips he creates in short form are archival edits.”
But as MrBeast cools down on the style, experts say other creators are already starting to follow suit. “There's now a wave of creators who have moved on to creating hour-and-a-half videos using just themselves and a whiteboard,” Kettle says. To pay attention. ”
Cicero, a lecturer at Syracuse University, said that like many art forms, YouTube has different styles that define different eras. According to him, retention editing defined the era from 2020 to 2024, but fatigue will set in soon.
“In the early days, it was very easy to make a big hit and become a viral hit. [this type of editing], but now it's much more difficult,” he said. “There are different waves of trends and different styles in editing, art, and music. Perhaps archival editing is similar to his Impressionist era on YouTube.”