YouTube is Rolling Out Its Version of TikTok Called Shorts

YouTube is launching its version of social media video-platform TikTok called YouTube Shorts, powered within its video-sharing platform.

Shorts is a new short-form video experience for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones.

Shorts will be tested first in India over the next few days and then rolled out to more countries in the coming months.

The company in a blog post on Monday said, “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. This is an early version of the product, but we’re releasing it now to bring you — our global community of users, creators, and artists — on our journey with us as we build and improve Shorts. We’ll continue to add more features and expand to more countries in the coming months as we learn from you and listen to your feedback.”

YouTube’s new product, which will compete with Facebook Inc’s Reels and TikTok, will let users record short mobile-friendly vertical videos and then add special effects and soundtracks pulled from a music library.

Here are more details on what to expect

What is Shorts?

Shorts  is a new way to express yourself in 15 seconds or less, and our team is focused on building its foundation across three main areas:

• Create: Creation is at the core of short-form video, and the company will make it easy and fun to create Shorts. YouTube has begun testing just a few new tools for creators and artists with its early beta in India: 
  • A multi-segment camera to string multiple video clips together,
  • The option to record with music from a large library of songs that will continue to grow,
  • Speed controls that give you the flexibility to be creative in your performance,
  • And a timer and countdown to easily record, hands-free.

YouTube also recently rolled-out a prominent new spot for the create icon on Android, starting in India. It said it will continue to expand to iOS devices and in more countries soon. You can also expect more creation features in the coming months. 

• Get discovered: Every month, 2 billion viewers come to YouTube to laugh, learn, and connect. Creators have built entire businesses on YouTube, and the company wants to enable the next generation of mobile creators to also grow a community on YouTube with Shorts. 

The company is also encouraging any mobile creator or artist to start uploading their existing short videos on YouTube today to start getting discovered.

• Watch: You may have recently seen a row on the YouTube homepage especially for short videos, and starting today the company is also introducing a new watch experience that lets you easily swipe vertically from one video to the next, plus discover other similar short videos. YouTube also going to make it even easier to start watching Shorts.

“There’s much more to come, and over the next few weeks and months, we’ll continue to roll out more creation tools and easier ways to watch short videos on YouTube as we listen to your feedback. If you want to learn more about how to create Shorts, check out our forum post,” the company added.

The announcement also comes as Oracle Corp and China’s ByteDance team up to keep TikTok operating in the United States, beating Microsoft Corp in a deal structured as a partnership rather than an outright sale.

YouTube’s foray into the short-form video service space coincides with TikTok’s ban in one of its biggest market, India, following the country’s escalating tensions with China.