In 2018, the digital entertainment platform Tik Tok arrived in Spain, and in just 3 years, according to a study by App Annie, a specialised consultancy, Tik Tok has overtaken YouTube in the United States and the United Kingdom, thus becoming the queen of video service platforms for social networks.
This war for the attention of social network users is what has motivated YouTube to create its own brand of short streaming videos, and now it is coming to Spain.
what is YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts is a service coupled to the YouTube application that allows users to upload videos of 60 seconds or less. It is a new way to watch, discover and create short audiovisual content using only a mobile phone.
Features include verticality of videos, 60 seconds or less, easy creation, and connecting your videos to the more than two billion users who are part of YouTube, giving users new personalised experiences.
YouTube Shorts allows you to record and edit videos from within the YouTube application itself, or on the other hand, upload videos captured from your mobile, computer or any other device, and edit them on YouTube. Among the editing possibilities that this new service allows us are: the ability to combine different video clips and then add music or audio tracks to accompany them, whether your own or from other YouTube videos. Once you have reached this point, you can add text to your videos and control when they appear and in what format, and finally, it is possible to change the speed of the clip.
To browse other users' videos within YouTube Shorts you can subscribe to their accounts and on the homepage you will see all the videos that these users upload to the app and by scrolling down you will be able to continue watching more and more videos. Users will be able to like, comment or share those videos that they have seen in Shorts within the app, although it will not be possible to download them.
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how does it differ from the Tik Tok platform?
The first thing to note is that Shorts is a mobile-only feature, so right now it is only available on the YouTube app for iOS and Android. The second thing that follows from this is that YouTube Shorts is not a separate app, but is viewed from within the YouTube app itself.
Really, YouTube Shorts is similar to TikTok- anyone can record, edit and upload their own videos. The editing and interaction capabilities are similar to TikTok, in the sense that we can record multiple shots, add text, music, control the speed settings, and so on.
What makes YouTube Shorts different from TikTok is that you will be able to use the audio from long YouTube videos as it is interconnected with the rest of YouTube and YouTube Music. This allows you, for example, to record reactions to specific moments in a video, recreate recipes or make a version of a sketch. For those creators who are afraid of people using the audio from their videos, don't worry, you can choose whether to allow this use or not.
In terms of content regulations and privacy and copyright policies, Shorts will be regulated in the same way as other YouTube videos. Shorts content is not segmented by country and language, although the company has acknowledged the existence of playlists for certain regions.
how to create a short video with YouTube Shorts?
Creating a short video is very easy and only requires a few simple steps:
- Log in to YouTube from a mobile device.
- Then tap the 'Create' option and select the option for a short video.
- If you want it to be longer than 15 seconds, select the same option, located above the record button, to make it last up to 60 seconds.
- Add music, either from the platform's library or original audio from other videos.
- To record a clip, press and hold the capture button. We can also pause and resume our recording.
- When we are happy with the final result, we select the 'Done' option, to preview the video.
- Finally, if we want, we can add a title of 100 characters maximum.
- And all we have to do is click on the 'Upload' option for the clip to be uploaded to the application.
Any user with an account on the app will be able to record, edit and upload videos to the app, just follow these steps and you'll be ready to start creating your content on YouTube Shorts.
Tips for creating YouTube Shorts
Success will be determined by the amount of content, virality or quality of the content, but the truth is that YouTube has been a platform close to the young audience for which it now has to fight with TikTok.
Some of the tips we recommend for your content to reach the maximum possible audience are:
- Focus on making the first few seconds of your video very eye-catching, to attract users' attention and keep them watching your video, and even consuming other videos on your account.
- Be creative and think of new ways to animate your clips.
- Create relevant content by incorporating songs, or any movement that is trending on the internet .
- Make your content educational, entertaining or something that makes a difference to the viewer.
- Take inspiration from other users within the YouTube Shorts community for fresh ideas.
Keep these tips in mind to get the most out of this new streaming service.
With the rise of the Internet, apps like YouTube have seen their audience and content grow. Over the years, competitors have emerged that have made these veteran platforms reinvent themselves in the digital world, which also gives us, as users, various options to develop our own content and grow as well. Tik Tok seemed to be the only option for creating short videos, but Instagram Reels and now YouTube Shorts are competing with the queen of network streaming services.
