- YouTube will first test the feature in India over the next few days;
- The Tik-Tok alike feature allows videos in 15 seconds or less.
Alphabet‘s YouTube is rolling out its version of social media rival TikTok, a new short-form video service called Shorts, enabled within its video-sharing platform.
YouTube will first test the feature in India over the next few days and then expand to more countries in the coming months, it said in a blog post on Monday.
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“We’re excited to announce that we are building YouTube Shorts, a new short-form video experience right on YouTube for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones”, said YouTube.
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The Tik-Tok alike feature allows videos in 15 seconds or less with a multi-segment camera to string multiple video clips together, the option to record with music, speed controls and a countdown to hands-free recording.
Now, it is another feature to rival Instagram’s Reels, as big techs are putting efforts on video tools: Facebook recently said that its users will now be able to watch videos with their friends online using the Messenger app, allowing them to see reactions in real time.
The announcement also comes as Oracle and China’s ByteDance team up to keep TikTok operating in the United States, beating Microsoft in a deal structured as a partnership rather than an outright sale.
YouTube’s entry into the short-form video service space coincides with TikTok’s ban in one of its biggest market, India, following the country’s escalating tensions with China.
