American online video-sharing platform YouTube is one of the giants when it comes to videos. But there is a service out there that has caught the attention of many people recently. We’re talking about Chinese video-sharing social networking service TikTok.
TikTok has changed a few things when it comes to video sharing and it seems like YouTube has noticed. Reports say the video sharing giant is looking to compete directly with TikTok. YouTube is reportedly working on a version called Shorts.
Shorts will let people upload short videos into a feed inside the mobile app, similar to what TikTok does with its service. The Information reports that the feature will allow YouTube to take advantage of the licensed music it has through its YouTube Music catalog.
TikTok has become very popular around the world since it lets users post short videos with different types of music and audio. The service has been around for a while but its popularity seems to have skyrocketed over the last few months, with many celebrities and people going viral for dances and other short videos.
The Verge reports that the information was later backed up by MSNBC’s Dylan Byers, who added through Twitter a few other details about the confirmation. Here is what he posted on Twitter earlier today:
“Really, really short-form video, like 15 seconds… that is a place that is certainly interesting to look at” YouTube‘s Susan Wojcicki told me. “We will definitely continue to innovate in all the different format sizes, including really short-form video" https://t.co/IWoMHzB1bp https://t.co/tmSzN2zF6A
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) April 1, 2020
YouTube has nothing to worry about when it comes to long videos since the service has been one of the most popular for many years. But it is not difficult to see why the video giant wants to compete in this category, which is currently being led by TikTok.
TikTok, founded in 2012, has exploded in popularity recently and YouTube thinks it could compete. The Verge reports that App Annie said back in January that the service had seen a growth of more than 125 percent over the last two years. On top of that, The Information pointed out that the app had around 842 million first-time downloads from the App Store and Google app stores over the last year.
Tech giants creating competitors is nothing new, including for YouTube. Not too long ago, the video platform brought a similar version of Instagram Stories to its site and app. The feature is now part of the site, allowing users to post short videos that disappear after some time. The Stories option was very popular on Snapchat and other apps later introduced similar versions. YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook now have their own versions. All three can be easily accessed after signing in. On Instagram, user stories are available for 24 hours before they disappear from the list. The stories are archived on the users account and can later be reshared.
TikTok is extremely popular at the moment so it would not be surprising to see other giants come up with their own versions in the near future. We’ll keep you updated when there is more information on this.
What do you think about YouTube’s plan? Are you using TikTok? Let us know in the comments.
