YouTube has spent months conducting limited tests in the US and India on its TikTok competitor, and now, it is finally launching the product for everyone in the US and the UK.
So you’re probably wondering now…what is YouTube Shorts, anyway? What do I do with it? There are different approaches to this, so just pick the one that feels most natural to you. It will give you yet another way to connect with your favorite creators.
What does YouTube Shorts do?
In a nutshell, YouTube Shorts is the video platform’s attempt to rival the enormously popular short-form video app, TikTok.
YouTube Shorts is unlike TikTok, which is an independent platform. In fact, there is no official YouTube Shorts app, because they’re not allowed in the App Store or on Google Play. YouTube Shorts is in the YouTube mobile app, not YouTube Shorts. If you already have the YouTube app installed on your smartphone, all you have to do is open it up. There’s a “Shorts” section directly below where you are now.
When you go to “Shorts” from the “Explore” tab, you’ll notice that a “Shorts” button has been added. This replaces the “Explore” tab, which also includes “Home,” “Subscriptions,” “Library,” and the create button. (YouTube Shorts is likely to be added to your current list soon.) The “Explore” tab has been relocated to the top of the app’s screen options list.
Both short-form video watching and video creation are features of YouTube Shorts, which are exclusive to mobile apps.
This is how you can watch YouTube Shorts
If you discover the YouTube Shorts section on the homepage of the app, you’ll see thumbnails of videos that are popular in the Shorts category. V Vertical video player appears when you click on one of those videos. While the video is playing, you can either like or dislike it by tapping the thumbs up or thumbs down button.
In addition, you can also share the Short on Twitter or Facebook, or leave a comment on it within the player, though this will pause the video. Below, you can subscribe to the creator’s channel of Short videos. Another way to do that is to click on their YouTube channel name and see all of their shorts.
A waveform icon will appear on the right-hand side of the screen if the clip uses a song or sound from another creator. Doing so will display the original video from which the audio was taken, as well as any other Shorts using that song or sound.
To help new creators get started, they should go to the YouTube app and click the middle button on the menu on the bottom of the screen (also known as the “create” tab).
If you click on the tab that says “Create a Short,” a number of options will appear, but the option you’re looking for is “Create a Short.” To arrive at the Shorts creator tool, click here.
On the surface, it’s similar to all other video-recording and media-uploading camera tools. Additionally, there are features for setting a countdown timer for hands-free recording, to slow down or speed up a recording, and for offering basic color correction tools.
Videos as long as 60 seconds can be created by the creator, and they’re classified as YouTube Shorts.
However, unlike other camera tools, which only offer pre-loaded music tracks, the YouTube Shorts creator enables users to utilize a music library containing more than 250 music labels and publishers. As a result, they will be able to lip sync and make dance videos like some of the popular TikTok videos. There are, however, only 15-second videos which use licensed music.
Another benefit of using the tool is the ability to embed sound from other YouTube videos into your YouTube Shorts clips.
Adding music to your video in the YouTube Shorts creator tool can be done using the camera in the tool. Clicking the “Add Music” tab displays a list of songs that popular artists have given away for free. As you can see on the page, the most-used song in Shorts videos is also listed.
Users can also look to the music featured in other Shorts videos as a source of inspiration.
As noted above, users who want to see other Shorts featuring the same audio can tap on the waveform icon on the bottom right-hand side of the screen when watching a video. If you’re creating something and you want to use a sound, all you have to do is tap the “Use This Sound” button and you’ll be taken to the Shorts creator tool where the chosen audio is ready to go. In order to create the video, all the creator would have to do is select the part of the song they want to use and record the video.
Uploading or recording a video on YouTube enables creators to make any changes they want to the video and continue filming. After creating a title for their video, they can post it.
They are visible on the home screen of the creator’s channel page under a new “Shorts” section, which is visible to all viewers.
Some of the participants in the beta period were likely to notice that many of those who created Shorts videos during the trial used the hashtag “#shorts.” To make sure their short video was found under the section called Shorts, YouTubers implemented this.
YouTube automatically detects any 60-second or shorter videos, they are automatically added to the Shorts section.
The creators who have monetized channels should also be aware that YouTube Shorts videos were not monetizable at the time this article was written.
The idea is still being developed.
TikTok has grown in popularity over the past year or so. Shorter-form video has not been seen since Vine closed in early 2017, thanks to the viral video app. Despite attempting to mimic TikTok’s popularity, other social media platforms, like Facebook, have had limited success.
It is still in the early stages of YouTube Shorts’ development. Even though this video lacks some of the more popular editing and effects features on TikTok, it’s great nonetheless. No one in particular, but if anyone could go toe-to-toe with TikTok, the current leader of short video on the internet, it would be YouTube, the leader of video on the internet.
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