There’s a war going on between TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram, and Snapchat Spotlight (if you consider that a thing). These short-form video platforms are jumping through hoops for your attention; however, let’s just admit that TikTok is the ringmaster here. This is causing companies like Facebook (and Instagram, by extension) to put a focus on arbitrarily curated videos. YouTube has been feeling the pressure from TikTok because this platform is eating into its views and content creators.
YouTube will let you convert your videos into Shorts
Because of the competition, YouTube has brought a new and pretty nifty feature. This will let you take an existing video from your channel and create a Short out of it. This is a way for more people to produce Shorts on the platform. How this will work is pretty simple. First, you’ll pick a video from your channel and you’ll select the section that you want to turn into a Short. You can choose up to 60 seconds worth of the video, as YouTube, annoyingly, still hasn’t upped the maximum Short length. Not to throw shade, but Instagram lets you upload up to 90-second videos, and TikToks can be up to 10 minutes. When you select the section of the video you want, you’ll be able to add on clips, images, and effects as you would edit a regular Short. After that point, you’ll be able to post that video as a Short. There are some things to know. Firstly, only YOU will be able to convert your YouTube videos into Shorts. You won’t have to worry about anyone coming onto your channel and turning your videos into Shorts. Also, the neatest thing about this feature is the fact that you can link back to the original video in the Short. So, you’ll have a direct line for the viewer to watch the full video you spent all night editing. This will, ostensibly, increase the engagement and reach of your main channel videos. This feature is rolling out now for Android and iOS, so you should be able to see it in the coming weeks. You will want to make sure that your YouTube app is fully updated.
