YouTube Shorts The changing face of social

The first video uploaded on YouTube in 2005, Me at the Zoo, was 19 seconds long. Since its acquisition by Google the following year, the video platform has become the second most visited website in the world, behind Google itself. With over 2 billion monthly active users as of 2021, YouTube has now become the default global digital entertainment platform. Although ad revenue growth is still remarkable (with a year-on-year increase of 25.4% from Q4 2020 to Q4 2021), competitive threats from new entrants in the market have led to YouTube experimenting with new forms of content. Specifically, short videos that echo ‘Me at the zoo’ in 2005, in terms of length, but with a modernised edge.

In 2020, YouTube Shorts was launched in India in the attempt to recapture users that were shifting towards rival social media platforms. YouTube Shorts is the short-form content integration that enables users to create 15 to 60 second videos with simple editing features. Much like TikTok’s proposition to foster engagement through interactivity and content creation, Shorts is a strategic move to consolidate Gen Z’s predisposition to short-form content while countering competitors, in the likes of Instagram Reels, Snap Spotlight and TikTok. Reels and Spotlight represent a similar transition, aiming to diversify lines of content, in the same way that companies started adding ‘story’ features following Snapchat’s success in 2013. 

YouTube’s move highlights the importance for platform companies to include lean-through consumption features as a means of reaching younger digital natives. Underlying this is the ethos of YouTube’s blog that announced the rollout of Shorts: “Shorts is a new way to express yourself in 15 seconds or less”. Launched in India, following the local ban of TikTok, in 2020, Shorts share similar features to rival platforms, such as vertical discovery integration, full screen videos, and multi-segment camera functionality. Of particular interest for creators is the access through Shorts to the millions of songs available on the parent platform. Shorts also benefits from a global userbase of over 2 billion users and the increased reliance on video as source of entertainment and information. 

With nearly 70% of total views on YouTube already coming from mobile devices, Shorts fits well as a seamless integration on the mobile app.

The competition for respective audiences is set to define the future outlook of social video. Product manager Todd Sherman shared that with Shorts: “We are going to effectively remix YouTube.” And while TikTok recently announced it will be extending maximum video length to 10 minutes, YouTube is doing just the opposite.