YouTube Shorts, the short-form video platform that competes with TikTok and Instagram Reels, is getting more popular and powerful with over 2 billion logged-in users watching every month. To enhance the user experience and encourage more creativity, YouTube recently rolled out new features and improvements to Shorts.
The new features allow users to create Shorts content beyond the basic shooting, uploading, and remixing options. Users can now collaborate and remix with other Shorts and YouTube videos, use exciting new stickers and effects, go live and be discovered, create Shorts from suggestions, save videos and effects to playlists, and effortlessly convert landscape videos to Shorts.
Here are some of the highlights of the new features:
- Collab and remix other content: Users can now record and remix side-by-side content with other Shorts and eligible YouTube videos. They can choose from different layout options, such as Green Screen where they can use other videos as a background, and Cut where they can select up to five seconds from other videos.
- Stickers and effects: Users can now access dozens of new stickers and effects to spice up their Shorts content. For example, the upcoming Q&A sticker will let users ask their audience questions and get responses from the comment section. Users can also reply to comments with a Short as a way to create new content quickly.
- Live and discover: Users can now go live and be discovered right from the Shorts feed. YouTube is testing a vertical live experience where viewers will see previews of live videos mixed into the Shorts feed. They can tap into the experience and scroll through other live videos that will help users connect with their audience and build their community. Features like Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Channel Membership will soon be available for live videos.
- Suggestions: Users can now create Shorts from suggestions based on the audio and effects from a video they watched. They can simply tap the remix button on the Shorts player and select “Use Sound”. The app will automatically use the same audio timestamp and effect from the original Short as a creation suggestion.
- Playlists: Users can now save videos they love directly to a playlist. They can also save effects they discovered and try them out later when they feel inspired.
- Recomposition Tool: Users can now easily convert landscape videos to Shorts with the Recomposition Tool that YouTube will beta-test in the next few weeks. Users can adjust the key parts of their content using split screen effects, zoom, crop, and layout options, making long-form videos more suitable for Shorts.
With these new additions, YouTube Shorts aims to make content creation easier and more fun for everyone. Users can try out the new features now and see how they can engage their audience further.
For more information about YouTube Shorts and its new features, visit youtube.com/@youtubecreators.
