YouTube Shorts achieved a new milestone of 70 billion daily views from over 2 billion signed-in users every month. The news was revealed at the Made on YouTube event, where YouTube unveiled a series of new AI-powered features that will enable creators and artists to produce, edit, and share content.
YouTube Shorts rolled out globally in June 2021, allows users to create and watch vertical videos of up to 60 seconds. The feature is YouTube’s answer to the rising popularity of TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media app that’s been dominating the short-video market in recent years. It offers a similar experience to TikTok, with features such as music, filters, effects, transitions, and captions.
YouTube has been investing heavily in promoting and supporting its Shorts feature, including redirecting users automatically to Shorts when the YouTube app is opened and launching the YouTube Shorts Fund to reward creators for their content. The fund, which was announced in May 2021, distributed $100 million to eligible creators over the course of 2021 and 2022.
YouTube Shorts is not the only platform competing with TikTok for the short video market. Other social media giants such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and X (formerly Twitter) have also launched their own versions of short-form video features, such as Reels, Spotlight, and the now-defunct Fleets.
In comparison, TikTok has 1.08 billion monthly active users worldwide in 2023. The figure does not include China, the platform’s home country. It also averages over 1 billion views daily.
