With TikTok’s fate in a ditch, YouTube decided to start it’s beta testing for YouTube Shorts in India where the former had a large number of users until the recent ban. This comes only a few weeks after Instagram decided to roll out Reels as a competition to TikTok. Shorts will allow videos of maximum length 15 seconds with an option to set them against a range of songs available on the YouTube library. The editing options used in the beta application are similar to what TikTok uses. Multi-segment camera, timers and speed controls are few of these features.
On their blog, YouTube promotes their “new” idea saying, ” Every month, 2 billion viewers come to YouTube to laugh, learn and connect. Creators have built entire businesses on YouTube, and we want to enable the next generation of mobile creators to also grow a community on YouTube with Shorts.” YouTube has already added a row on their homepage for the feature to watch these shorts using vertical swiping, which is again a familiar feature users have seen before.
YouTube has decided to test the feature in India and then take it to the global platform. However, they have given no information on when they are planning to do so. Instagram’s Reels has mostly seen users upload TikTok videos on it. While people have started creating their own content as well, success still looks a little far away for Instagram’s feature.In a more general view, short content has seen to grow with people as it requires nothing more than a mobile to make and not more than 15 seconds to view. It’s ideal for viewers to quickly skim through and great for creators to produce enough content to engage their audience. With India having a large number of people trying to make content, it seems like a wise choice for YouTube to try out the feature in India first. Looking forward to creating more opportunity for YouTube creators, Shorts might soon be the new short-video sensation.
