YouTube Shorts: an analogue of Tik Tok is already in EU-US

Many popular platforms are actively implementing services similar to TikTok. Back in September 2020, it became known that YouTube had joined this initiative. Initially, the built-in tool for creating short videos Shorts was available only in India, because the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned Tik Tok in the country. At the moment, the YouTube Shorts service has appeared in different countries (more than 100), including EU-US. At the beginning of July 2021, the launch of the service in the country was officially announced.

Funny Shorts Compilation

How to open YouTube Shorts

The tool is currently in beta. There is no separate application for Shorts. In the desktop version, short videos will be displayed in the general feed. If you most often view entertainment content on your phone or tablet, then you will need to visit a separate section in the YouTube mobile app:

Open the app on your phone/tablet:

Shorts will appear in the lower horizontal panel, which you need to click on:

The same feed with short videos will open, as in Tik Tok:

To scroll through the video, just swipe, just like on Tik Tok:

Watched videos can be likes and dislikes, commenting and forwarding videos to friends are also available. Moreover, the link can be sent both to instant messengers and to social networks, by mail, via SMS. The recommendation feed is generated based on the viewing data in the main YouTube.

Requirements for YouTube Shorts

Initially, the duration of short videos on Shorts was limited to 15 seconds, but now it has been increased to 1 minute. However, at the moment, you can add music from the service’s music library only to 15-second videos.

Here’s what else you should know about the new tool:

the format of the rollers must be vertical;

if necessary, several records can be combined into one;

videos can be speeded up or slowed down, as in TikTok;

a special timer allows you to shoot videos without an assistant;

to make the video colorful and catchy, various effects, such as color correction, allow;

after a recent update, it became possible to add automatic subtitles;

If necessary, you can supplement the video with a text inscription.

How to record a short video for YouTube Shorts

It is convenient that you can shoot videos for YouTube Shorts directly in the mobile application. To do this, click on the button in the form of a plus in the bottom horizontal panel:

Then you should select the new item “Create a short video”:

To record a video, press and hold the gray circle record button. You can also touch the button 2 times: at the time of the start and end of shooting.

After that, you can view the result, make the necessary changes and add information about the video. According to official information from Google, a video is more likely to be recommended if it is accompanied by the #Shorts tag.

Functions for adding music and sound effects

You can overlay audio from the Google Music Library on 15-second videos for free, but they cannot be used for commercial purposes. To add music from the music library, you need:

click the “Add Audio” button, select the desired track and shoot a short video;

you can also add music from the library to the finished video by clicking the “Sound” button in the bottom editing panel.

An interesting feature of YouTube Shorts is the ability to borrow any music from YouTube videos, both short and regular. In this case, a link to the audio source will be added. To use this feature, you need:

Log in to the mobile app.

Find the short clip you want to borrow sound from.

Click on this icon in the lower right corner:

After that, you will see a list of shorts that use the selected music.

Then select “Use this sound”.

Note! Video authors have the right to restrict access to copying sound effects. In any case, it is advisable to coordinate the moment of using the tracks with the owner, so as not to violate the law.

If you need to take an audio track from a long video, find a suitable video on YouTube, and then click the “Create” button under the player.

Earnings on YouTube Shorts

On May 11, 2021, YouTube launched a $100 million fund to reward the most creative short video creators of the month. The program will run until the end of 2021. To compete with other video authors, you do not need to submit a special application. The service selects videos with the most views, comments and likes. According to rough estimates, for 1 video you can get $ 1,000.

At the moment, the YouTube Shorts tool does not yet have a long-term monetization model. In the future, bloggers will be able to earn from ads, but income will only be available after the end of the beta testing period. Every day, short videos on the platform are viewed more than 6.5 billion times around the world, so the prospects for Shorts are quite impressive.

Have you already assessed the advantages and disadvantages of the new service? Do you think YouTube Shorts can become a worthy competitor to Tik Tok?