make short videos à la TikTok

As of today, YouTube is releasing the beta of YouTube Shorts in the Netherlands. With this you can, from the YouTube app, make short videos similar to the videos in TikTok.

What are YouTube Shorts?

YouTube entered into a battle with TikTok in mid-2020 through the so-called Shorts. That’s a feature in the YouTube app that allows you to create short videos of up to 15 seconds. You can use all kinds of filters, choose background music and apply fun effects. You can also add sound from other YouTube videos to it, including music videos.

The YouTube Shorts could already be viewed in the app, but now YouTube users in the Netherlands can also make their own Shorts for the first time. Just like with TikTok and Instagram Reels, you can also get started with your own Shorts here via the camera icon. You can edit multiple segments in succession, record music, adjust speed settings and more. Among other things, the following options are possible in the Shorts:

• Add text to specific parts in your video
• Automatically add captions to your Short
• Record up to 60 seconds with the Shorts camera
• Add clips from your phone’s gallery to the video taken with the Shorts camera
• Add basic filters to adjust the color of your shorts (more effects to come in the future)

Just like in TikTok, there is a playback function that lets you scroll vertically through videos, and YouTube uses an algorithm to predict which content you find interesting.

YouTube Shorts is not visible in the app

YouTube Shorts was announced in September and has since expanded to 26 countries. The Netherlands is now added to this, along with another 100 countries around the world where YouTube is available. You can find it in the navigation bar at the bottom of the YouTube app. According to Google Netherlands, this is a beta function in YouTube, so it may be that certain parts do not work properly. It may take until Wednesday before all Dutch people have access to the beta of YouTube Shorts.