YouTube Shorts now available in the Philippines
Calling all local content creators and YouTube fans in the Philippines!
Starting today, July 13, Filipino social media users will be able to enjoy YouTube’s new short-form video experience to create short and catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones.
YouTube has just announced the arrival of the beta version of YouTube Shorts in the country, which will allow users to express themselves in 15 seconds or less.
Shorts is the platform’s new short-form video experience that anyone can use to create short, catchy videos from mobile phones. First announced in September 2020, YouTube has since expanded the feature to 26 countries including the Philippines, making it available across more than 100 countries where YouTube is available.
According to the social media giant, while short form videos were already viewable in the platform, Filipino users will now be able to access Shorts’ creation tools. This includes a multi-segment camera to string multiple video clips together, the ability to record with music, control speed settings, and more.
YouTube also plans to roll out additional features such as the ability to add text to specific points in videos, automatic captions, recording up to 60 seconds with the Shorts camera, adding clips from a phone's gallery, and adding basic filters for color correction, with more effects to come in the future.
The new features also include the ability to sample audio not only from other Shorts but also from the billions of videos available on YouTube, unlocking a massive resource well for content creators. Users can give their own creative spin on YouTube content they love and help find it a new audience. From reacting to favorite jokes, trying a hand at a creator’s latest recipe, or re-enacting comedic skits, creators will be in control and will be able to opt out if they don’t want their long form video remixed.
“We want to make it easy and fun to create Shorts,” said Todd Sherman, Global Product Manager for YouTube Shorts. “As we continue to build Shorts alongside our creators and artists, we’ll be adding more features for people to try,” he added.
Delivering a seamless viewing experience across YouTube
Helping people find Shorts to enjoy and discovering creators is a key component of the product experience. YouTube previously unveiled a row on the YouTube homepage especially for Shorts and launched a vertical viewing format for easy swiping. They plan to add a Shorts tab on mobile that makes it easier for people to watch Shorts with a single tap.
According to the social media giant, as of today, the YouTube Shorts player has surpassed 6.5 billion daily views globally.
Additionally, Shorts will be integrated to the whole YouTube experience that people are already familiar with. If users hear a snippet of a song on Shorts, they can easily find the full song, watch the whole music video, or learn more about the artist.
Supporting mobile creators
YouTube has helped an entire generation of creators turn their creativity into businesses and become the next generation media companies. Over the last three years, the company has paid more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies.
With Shorts being a new way to watch and create on YouTube, the company has been looking at various ways to monetize Shorts and reward creators for their content, including the recently announced YouTube Shorts Fund, amounting to $100M distributed over the course of 2021-2022.
“We know that it will take us time to get this right, and we're just getting started. We can't wait for you to try Shorts and help us build a first-class, short-form video experience right on YouTube,” Sherman said.
The Shorts beta is rolling out in more countries and will be available to everybody soon.
(Images via YouTube)