YouTube Shorts Gives Max Video Length A Bump In Bid To Compete With TikTok

YouTube Shorts is getting some upgrades for both creators and fans, as the company looks to better compete with the short form video sharing juggernaut that is TikTok. The updated features are meant to “empower you to express yourself, get inspired, engage more deeply, and keep up with the latest trends.”

The biggest change coming to YouTube Shorts is that videos can now be less short. The current cap on video length is only 15 seconds. However, beginning on October 15th, the time limit will be raised to a a full 3 minutes. This adjustment is based on the feedback the company received from creators who needed more flexibility in what they could create on the platform.

Creating content inspired by another Short will also be an easier process. Users will now have access to templates that can be accessed by tapping on “Remix” while watching a video. Moreover, it will be possible to pull in videos from across YouTube to use as clips that go right into the Shorts camera. Of course it wouldn’t be an update without AI, as Veo, which is powered by Google’s DeepMind, will also be available as an aid when creators feel they need it.

Community engagement is also getting a boost. There will be a new page that will list videos that are trending on the service, which should help users feel “inspired and jump into the trend!” Additionally, there will now be a preview of the comments pulled from the Shorts feed, giving users an idea of what the comments are like so they can decide if it’s something they even want to engage with.

However, it seems as if YouTube is aware that Shorts aren’t for everyone. Therefore, it will now be providing an option called “Show fewer Shorts.” This should make it so that a user’s home feed isn’t inundated with Shorts, although the company mentions that it will only be a “temporary” reprieve. It might be that more Shorts will be slowly added as time goes on.

Users looking for an alternative to TikTok will likely be happy with these updates. Whether it’s enough to win over the traditional YouTube audience that’s accustomed to longer form videos is another question entirely.