TikTok has been the one to watch in the social space for a few years but it has exploded in popularity over the past few months. The app has been downloaded over 1.5 billion times, and has a cool 800 million active users around the world.
It’s no wonder then that the other social giants want to get a slice of the TikTok magic and this week it’s YouTube that’s trying to get in on the action.
The Google-owned social network is letting some people record several short 15-second video clips that will be merged into one video in a feature called multi-segment videos.
In a blog post, YouTube said this feature will make it easier to record several clips and upload it directly into YouTube as one video. The feature is rolling out for testing to iOS and Android phone owners so check your YouTube app to see if you can try it.
Users that have access to this feature will see an option to ‘create a video’ in the mobile upload flow. YouTube says you can tap or hold the record button to start filming the first clip and then release the button to stop the filming. Repeat the steps until you have a few videos you’re happy with and then upload it to the platform.
YouTube isn’t the only platform that has tried out its own TikTok competitor. Facebook launched Lasso in November 2018 which is extremely similar to TikTok, however, it hasn’t managed to get anywhere near the Chinese-owned app in terms of download numbers.
It's interesting that YouTube would take aim with shorter videos on the platform given that it consistently rewards creators that make longer videos, in particular because long-form videos can feature more ads.
This 15-second experiment may never make it to the full YouTube user base. But it’s clear that the tech giants are worried about the success of TikTok and are doing what they can to try and offer their own alternatives.
