YouTube has announced plans to makes its own Snapchat-style ‘Stories’ mode called Reels. And while yet to be released, there’s plenty worth getting excited about. Here’s what we know so far.
Stories features gained popularity through Snapchat and have quickly found their way into other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and even Skype.
YouTube’s take on the format will be called Reels, and will see creators combining shorter mobile videos of up to 30 seconds, and then overlaying them with filters, music, text and stickers.
The idea is to allow YouTubers to engage with their followers more quickly and frequently, as you’ll no longer have to post a full length video.
News of the new feature quietly broke cover in a YouTube Creators Blog post (H/T TechCrunch), where it was revealed that a beta version of Reels will be introduced later this year. It’s likely to only be made available to creators with 10,000+ subscribers – at least initially. If it proves popular, however, there’s every chance YouTube will roll it out more widely.
It’s likely that Reels will live in a separate tab on a YouTube channel to begin with, similar to how Community does, so it shouldn’t impact on your viewing experience if you want to see a creator’s latest full videos.
But again, should Reels prove popular, they could eventually make their way to the main Home tab in the form of recommendations.
Do you like the sound of YouTube Reels? Give your opinion on Twitter @trustedreviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
