Shorts Experiments and Best Practices, YPP in New Countries, Mobile Sorting and Filtering, and MORE!

• All right creators, we’re almost through with 2020 but not before we share some more incredible updates with you. So let’s get into it. First update we have is posts in Studio. We talked about this a couple of months ago, but today we’re announcing that we’re rolling this out to 100% of creators. Now, within studio you might ask, what’s changing? Well we’re renaming the videos left navigation item to content. And posts eligible creators will see a new tab beside uploads, live and stories. Let us know if you have any feedback in the comments below or through the send feedback link.

00:38 - Next up, we have improvements to Studio Mobile. sorting and filtering. So what we’re doing is adding two new filters. That’s right, two. The first one is going to be the number of views and the second one is gonna be sorting by monetization status. Now, that second one is obviously only gonna be applicable to monetizing creators. Let us know what you think. Third update is probably our most exciting, which is always really good news both for the platform, the people who work for it and for the users.

01:08 - What we’re doing is rolling out the YouTube Partnership program in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. So, you can apply for the program in YouTube Studio in the monetization tab. If you’re in any of those countries, please get those applications in. We really want monetizing creators in each of those countries. Next up we have shorts. Now we’ve explained how we view the short shelf as a really important place for people to find and interact with shorts.

01:39 - But what we want to do this week is walk you through a couple of experiments that we’re running to further expand on the ways in which viewers can find and interact with shorts. First up, we have shorts in the subscriptions feed. Now what we’re talking about is shorts appearing in the subscriptions feed on the mobile app. This has two different components to it. The first is that where we see a video, which is eligible to be considered as a short, that is videos that are vertical in orientation and under 60 seconds in duration, we’ll be putting a label icon in the bottom right-hand corner of their previews. The second part of this experiment is around browsing.

02:25 - What we’re gonna be doing is providing users with the option. Once they selected a short to swipe up or down and browse other shorts that have been uploaded from channels that they subscribe to. We’ll be rolling this out to a small group of users globally on iOS and Android in the coming weeks. Next up we have new ways to find shorts via the mobile app on the top and bottom rows of the app itself. Now what we’re doing is we’re swapping out different options on the top and bottom rows for this experiment for a small group of users.

03:02 - I’m replacing one or other of the icons with the shorts icon. Now, how this gonna work is if you are in the experiment, you will see either a shorts icon in place of the explore tab with the explore icon moved to the top row. Or you will see a shorts icon in place with the cast icon in the top row and casting can still be done in the player while watching a video. Now, this experiment is gonna be rolling out, similar to the first one to a small group of users in India. Only on iOS and Android wile we gather feedback. Lastly, we have shorts on explore.

03:43 - So what we’re talking about here is a featured short being added to the explore top. This obviously allows viewers to watch the featured short and of course browse and watch more shorts. What’s important to note here is that creators and artists on the rise are still available and viewers can still easily access trending and other destinations such as fashion, gaming and news by tapping on the destinations button at the top. This experiment is only available to a small group of users in India. So once again India, we’re relying on you for as much of the feedback as you’re willing to provide.

04:20 - All right, next up, we have some exciting questions from Mike Winger. Now what we’re doing is continuing our focus on shorts. We know this is a big change for the platform. We believe it’s a positive one. That said, anybody who has questions is welcome to post them in the comment section and we’ll continue to answer them. So Mike’s first question is around the appeal of shorts for his subscribers.

04:46 - Now he says, will my current subs be turned off by shorts resulting in a loss of subscribers? Now the answer here is basically, you know your audience best. We’re not gonna tell you what works for you and your relationship with your subscribers, because you’re the expert on that. What we would say is that we built a product that we believe is positive and engaging, and we’re seeing great traction across the platform to shorts. Now, it’s gonna take a little while for viewers to get used to this new feature. So what we’d advise is, try it out. Let us know what you think. And if you can find any ways we could improve it, make sure you leave some feedback through the send feedback link or in the comments below.

05:30 - Next question from Mike, what are Youtube’s goals with shorts? I always try to partner with YouTube by achieving your goals while trying to achieve mine. Knowing your agenda here helps us better partner with you. How can this be a win-win? So our answer is that our goal with shorts is to empower mobile creators and artists on the platform, so they can find an audience with our global community of two billion users. Simple as that. Mike’s on a roll. He’s third question is the following, how do the algorithms handle shorts? Should I be concerned about keywords and titles and in the speech of the video? Or just focus on audience experience? Well, our answer is that we recommend adding hashtag shorts to either the title or description of your video. This’ll give our system additional insights that will help us to determine if your video is a short or not.

06:27 - You don’t need to add anything else to help us serve your video. Last question from Mike is, are there any other best practices specifically related to shorts that you can offer? And the answer is of course, Mike, we would never let you down. The first one is goNNA be start strong. And what we mean by that is, think about the context of a short on your audience. The first couple of seconds are gonna be crucial in terms of appealing to the viewer. So what you’re gonna want to do is take advantage of that and make sure that the first couple of seconds are as engaging as possible.

07:04 - Making sure you’re using strong visuals, movement and appropriately timed audio, all of those can work to your advantage. Next up we have structure and surprise. What you’re gonna want to do is take advantage of that familiar story structure. A beginning, middle, and end in order to grind the viewers attention as they watch your short. Also for extra bonus points, try and throw in a surprise. Throw in a twist or something that can subvert the viewers expectations of your content and provide them with a nice surprise. Next up, showcase your skills.

07:40 - Whether it’s great comedic timing, fire dance moves, or apparently a very popular trend, which is ear wiggling. Make sure that you’re bringing a little bit of yourself into the content, showcasing your skills and strengths. But do bear in mind, the more you tie yourself to that beginning, middle, end, throwing in a surprise structure, the more you’re setting yourself up for success. And the last piece of advice we’ll give you is, stay accessible. So because of YouTube’s two billion user community, this feature has a huge amount of accessibility. Both for subscribers and non-subscribers.

08:21 - But what you’re gonna want to keep in mind is make sure that you keep accessibility front and center. So think about viewers who may not have the signed on, may not be familiar with your content or those who speak a different language. You might want to be catering to as well. And that friends is all for this week, from the creators of YouTube to YouTube creators. I’ve been Connor, tune in next week for our next edition of “Newsflash”. .