The Platform Posthttps://theplatformpost.com/Internet culture: the platforms, the people who make things on them, and the stories that travel.enFri, 25 Sep 2026 23:14:09 +0200A Short History of Vertical Video, From Vine to Shortshttps://theplatformpost.com/culture/a-short-history-of-vertical-videohttps://theplatformpost.com/culture/a-short-history-of-vertical-videoFri, 25 Sep 2026 23:12:23 +0200CultureFifteen years ago the phone turned the frame on its side. This is how a format television would not touch became the way most of the internet watches, one launch date at a time.How Instagram Ranks Reels, in Instagram's Own Wordshttps://theplatformpost.com/platforms/how-instagram-ranks-reelshttps://theplatformpost.com/platforms/how-instagram-ranks-reelsFri, 25 Sep 2026 23:12:23 +0200PlatformsThe company has published its ranking logic twice: a long explainer in 2023 and a three-word summary in 2025. Read together, they say exactly what a reel has to do.Why the Comment Section Became the Newsroomhttps://theplatformpost.com/essays/the-comment-section-is-the-newsroomhttps://theplatformpost.com/essays/the-comment-section-is-the-newsroomFri, 25 Sep 2026 23:12:23 +0200EssaysThe second act of a viral story is increasingly written underneath it. Four cases, from a soft-drink poll to a Broadway benefit, show how the audience took over the follow-up.The Thirty-Second Story: How Narrated Shorts Became a Genrehttps://theplatformpost.com/essays/the-thirty-second-storyhttps://theplatformpost.com/essays/the-thirty-second-storyFri, 25 Sep 2026 23:12:23 +0200EssaysVine gave the internet six seconds, TikTok gave it fifteen, and YouTube now allows three minutes. The format that won is none of those. It is the half-minute anecdote with a narrator, and it has rules.From Dub the Dew to Boaty McBoatface: What Happens When Brands Let the Internet Votehttps://theplatformpost.com/culture/when-brands-let-the-internet-votehttps://theplatformpost.com/culture/when-brands-let-the-internet-voteFri, 25 Sep 2026 23:12:23 +0200CultureTwice in four years, an organisation asked the public to name something and the public answered with a joke. The two episodes have become the internet's standard lesson in open polls, and a 30-second retelling of the first is now the most watched video on a Belgian YouTube channel.The Internet's Tall Tales, Told in Thirty Seconds: On PopcornTheoryhttps://theplatformpost.com/essays/popcorntheory-internet-tall-taleshttps://theplatformpost.com/essays/popcorntheory-internet-tall-talesFri, 25 Sep 2026 22:39:32 +0200EssaysA Belgian creator's YouTube channel retells the internet's favourite brand legends, sign wars and stunt contests at the speed of the feed. Eighteen months and 685 million views in, the genre it built is starting to change shape.