TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media in the world.
According to the company, the video platform’s monthly active users have grown by nearly 800 percent since 2018. Currently, TikTok’s total number of active users in the U.S. has exceeded 91 million.
With such a meteoric growth, it’s not surprising that other social platforms would want to join the short-form video race. And that’s what happened.
On June 29, TikTok was banned in India. Seven days after the ban, Instagram began testing Reels — a short-form video feature — in the country. What’s more, the Facebook-owned app expanded the test to other countries when talks of banning TikTok began in the United States.
Now, it seems YouTube is using a similar strategy.
Yesterday, the video streaming giant announced YouTube Shorts. It’s a new way to create, watch, and share short, catchy videos recorded using mobile phones.
In a blog post announcement, VP of Product Management at YouTube, Chris Jaffe, wrote:
“Over the next few days in India, we’re launching an early beta of Shorts with a handful of new creation tools to test this out.”
Note that the test is an early version. However, the video streaming giant promises to add more features and expand to more countries in the coming months.
With that said, here’s how YouTube Shorts work.
What you Should Know about YouTube Shorts
Shorts provide a new way for creators on YouTube to express themselves in 15-seconds or less video.
Android users can record a Short using the new create icon at the bottom of the YouTube app. After publishing, the short-form video will appear in a carousel on the YouTube homepage that’s designed for Shorts.
Currently, the feature isn’t available for iOS users. But that could change in the coming months.
Creators on YouTube Shorts can enjoy the following features:
- Creative tools to edit videos
- Multi-segment cameras for stitching short clips together
- Timers and countdowns
- Add music from YouTube’s library to videos
- Slow down or speed up videos
Since the carousel shows all short-form videos, you don’t have to create your content with Shorts to upload it.
YouTube Shorts could quickly become the go-to social media platform for short-form video experience. And the reasons are apparent.
At 2 billion users, YouTube has more monthly active users than both TikTok and Instagram combined. Besides, the video streaming platform’s monetization features could entice creators to invest more time.
On the other hand, there’s currently no way to earn money directly from TikTok or Instagram Reels.
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