YouTube Shorts: What Authors Need to Know
Reading Time: 5 minutesAs platforms continue to copycat their competitors, one of the more recent entries in that race is YouTube Shorts, which mimic TikTok and Instagram Reels. Let’s talk about pros and cons, and how authors can use YouTube Shorts.
As platforms continue to copycat their competitors, one of the more recent entries in that race is YouTube Shorts. Shorts are videos of up to 60 seconds that mimic the format of TikTok and Instagram Reels. I say mimic because Shorts don’t hold a candle to either iteration of the format. However, I wouldn’t write off Shorts just yet.
Let’s talk about pros and cons, and how authors can use YouTube Shorts. Be aware that YouTube Shorts could change dramatically and quickly as YouTube figures out what it wants to do with this.
What are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts are videos of up to 60 seconds in the vertical viewing orientation, a departure from their landscape oriented viewing on desktops and laptops, and TVs, too, I might add. Like TikTok and Instagram Reels, they are optimally viewed on mobile phones.
As on TikTok and Instagram Reels, the videos loop, with continuous play until either the user pauses the video, or moves to another Shorts video.
The Good News/Bad News of YouTube Shorts
With all the really long, videos on YouTube, some that are even hours long, Shorts are a welcome reprieve. The bad news for YouTube Creators and authors is that Shorts can draw viewers away from longer, more in-depth, higher investment and value video content you’ve done.
What I Learned from Eavesdropping on My Husband’s YouTube Shorts Viewing
I have to laugh at how my husband uses YouTube Shorts. His man cave is across the hall from my office and I can hear what he’s listening to. I always know when he’s viewing Shorts. He has an attention deficit type viewing habit on regular YouTube videos, sometimes watching a couple minutes (or less) of each video. On Shorts, it’s even worse. Now he’ll watch only a few seconds of each. If YouTube Shorts fosters this rapid fire viewing fire habit, longer videos—where YouTube makes big ad money—could experience reduced view time. I wonder how they’ll change the Shorts viewing experience to extract ad dollars.
One of the other things that I observed from eavesdropping on hubby’s Shorts viewing is that some of the videos sound like they are reposts from either TikTok or Instagram. Being on both of those platforms, I’m aware of the trending sounds. What’s curious is these trending sounds are often copyrighted audio. Why is YouTube allowing that? Word of caution if you’re reposting from elsewhere, remove the audio. I’m sure the YouTube content moderation team will figure out how to better police that soon. You don’t want copyright strikes on your YouTube channel.
YouTube Shorts Still Feel Beta
Though YouTube announced the Shorts program in September 2020, it still feels like it’s a beta ‘me, too’ copycat product.
A YouTube mobile user has to scroll up on their home page to get to Shorts, or click the Shorts navigation link. Contrast this with TikTok where the app opens up with a ready-to-view video. On Reels, the videos are now integrated into users’ regular home feeds, along with standard still photo and video posts. It is a seamless content consuming experience on Instagram, though users can choose to view Reels exclusively, similar to how TikTok works. Instagram is prioritizing Reels and video content, which is a departure from their still photo roots. This seamless experience will help build that bridge from who they were to who they are now. But YouTube hasn’t quite figured out how to integrate that user-friendly short video experience yet.
As a side note, Shorts can also be viewed on the desktop version of Youtube. But as with the mobile version, the user has to scroll up to access them.
The video description creation system for Shorts is seriously lacking at this point. When you create a Short, it allows you to add a ‘caption,’ which is really just the title of the video. Why did they call it a caption? This is confusing since some people call captions subtitles, and vice versa. During the creation process, you cannot add a description in addition to the caption title. In order to add an extended description, you have to go into YouTube Studio and add the description. I’ve done it. But these days, I’ve chosen not to waste my time. However, I’m guessing that not having an extended description could impact the videos placement in YouTube search. I hope this gets addressed soon.
You are allowed to use hashtags in your Shorts caption title. Recently, YouTube added buttons populated with suggestions from your recently used hashtags. You’re already using hashtags in your regular YouTube video descriptions, right?
YouTube Shorts are less conversational than their TikTok and Instagram rivals. YouTube has a TV-looking logo for a reason. It’s a television alternative, not an interactive social network. As badly as they seem to want to be in the social media space—anyone remember Google Plus?—they just don’t have the same vibe. Just because you can leave a comment on a YouTube video, doesn’t make it a social network.
YouTube Shorts Best Feature
I think the best feature of YouTube Shorts is Remix. If you have longer video content on YouTube, you can grab up to a 60-second clip of it to create a new Short. Then the Short will link to the original longer video.
This saves you time by not having to create unique Shorts content. It can also help you resurrect interest in your existing video content. It is also a distinct advantage over TikTok and Instagram where you cannot link to YouTube content in your posts.
The one thing I don’t like about Remix is that you can only use it on your mobile phone, and it’s quite awkward, although I have to admit that it’s no more awkward than creating videos on TikTok or Instagram, and the edit trim feature is very similar to how video editing in the iPhone Photos app works. High manual dexterity and the ability to see and use tiny type is required. Guess they’re not thinking about accessibility.
What's the YouTube Shorts Algorithm Doing?
On my YouTube Shorts feed, there are so many shorts from TV shows, news, celebrity content, and a smattering from the channels I’m subscribed to. I say a smattering because not everyone I follow is using Shorts yet.
I think I know why I’m seeing such a jumble of topics. I don’t do much YouTube video watching. Rather, I consume a lot of video content on TikTok and Instagram. Add to that the lack of significant Shorts content from those I follow. So the YouTube algorithm really doesn’t know how to profile what I might want to see.
From a creator perspective, the Shorts algorithm can be as frustrating as that for regular YouTube videos. On my Shorts videos, I usually get at least a couple dozen views per video, up to over 1,200. Some of my videos were Remixes, others were uploaded. The Remix versus upload issue doesn’t seem to have an impact.
How Can Authors Use YouTube Shorts?
Where I think a lot of authors will mess up with Shorts is that they will try to just use them as ‘buy my book’ commercials. Shorts are up to 60 seconds, just like many television commercials. Resist that temptation! Though Shorts can be used to promote your book, and you certainly can occasionally include a promotional video in your Shorts postings, remember that even though they’re short, they need to provide value.
Ideal uses of YouTube Shorts for authors would be:
- Book character profiles
- Behind the scenes glimpses of your writing process or life
- Sharing what inspired you to write your book
- Fun or interesting things you do that aren’t related to your book, but make you human
- Discussing why you like other books in your genre that aren’t yours
If you’re comfortable, you might want to jump onto Instagram Reels or TikTok to see how people are using short form video. Just don’t try to do any of the dangerous stunts. And I’ll let you decide if you want to do any dance videos.
This article is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.
© 2023 Heidi Thorne
Reference: https://discover.hubpages.com/technology/YouTube-Shorts-What-Authors-Need-to-Know
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