To facilitate the use of the application for content creators, YouTube has introduced a new tool that transforms long videos into "Shorts," or short videos, for iOS and Android users, in an attempt to compete with the popular platform TikTok. This tool will allow content creators to select up to 60 seconds from one of their videos and bring the clip into the Shorts editor directly from the YouTube app on iOS or Android. From there, they can add elements such as text, filters, and additional video clips captured using the Shorts camera or pulled from their photo library.
In an announcement about this feature, YouTube stated that the final "short" video will link back to the full video from which it was cut, potentially making Shorts an ideal promotional tool for longer content from the creator. The company’s post indicates that the new editing tool "will allow users to give a fresh twist to their classic content." They added, "If a user enjoys watching a short video created with this tool on YouTube, they won’t have to navigate to the creator's channel to search for the full video."
