As part of its strategy to compete with TikTok and Instagram Reels, YouTube has announced an extended set of creation tools for its short-form video platform, YouTube Shorts. The new features include tools for remixing, adding effects, stickers, live streaming, and more, aimed at stimulating inspiration among creators. YouTube is also testing a new mobile-first vertical live experience that aims to promote discoverability of live creators in the main Shorts feed.
YouTube reports that Shorts are viewed by over 2 billion logged-in users every month, prompting the rollout of more tools to enhance the platform's usability for creators. Among these is the "Collab" tool, enabling creators to record a Short side-by-side with other YouTube or Shorts videos. Additionally, YouTube is introducing a Q&A sticker for creators to interact with their audience by asking questions and receiving responses in the comments.
For live creators, YouTube plans to test the incorporation of live videos into a new version of the Shorts feed. In the test group, viewers will see previews of live videos mixed with other Shorts, similar to TikTok's approach.
Other features designed to encourage creative inspiration are also being rolled out, such as an option to automatically bundle the audio and effect from a video being remixed, making it easier for users to participate in trends. There's also the ability to save Shorts to playlists on YouTube for future reference or inspiration.
In the coming weeks, YouTube will start testing new "recomposition" tools to help creators convert horizontal videos into Shorts, adding to the platform's flexibility and remix capabilities.
These additions to YouTube Shorts come on the heels of TikTok's recent announcement allowing creators to make video ads to earn more money, and Instagram's launch of a new feature facilitating the creation of Reels from templates. Despite the stiff competition, YouTube Shorts has seen substantial growth due to its deep integration with the YouTube platform.
