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"Flash-Fixing Fame Is It YouTubes Shorts or TikTok for Quick Content Conquest for 2024"
Flash-Fixing Fame: Is It YouTubes Shorts or TikTok for Quick Content Conquest?
YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: Which One Is Better?
Shanoon Cox
Aug 21, 2023• Proven solutions
YouTube Shorts is the latest feature designed to mimic TikTok’s creation, but can it go hand in hand with one of the biggest social media apps? Let’s discuss this scenario in detail in this article!
YouTube’s TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts, is now rocking globally. Seeing the success of Instagram Reels and TikTok, it seems like YouTube didn’t want to lag behind the game. So in September last year, it decided to step into short-form content via YouTube Shorts, a social platform for quick 60-second videos hosted on the YouTube app.
According to the Shorts product lead Todd Sherman, the social media giant aims to unleash new grounds for creativity.
On the other hand, TikTok is a short-form, video-sharing app that assists users to share and make 15-second to 60-seconds videos on any topic.
TikTok contains a separate app for the Chinese market, Douyin, with 300 million-plus active monthly users. The new app’s logo is a merger of the Duyin and Musical.ly logos.
And, we’re going to discuss the comparison of both these giants, i.e., YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok, in terms of which app is better for making short videos.
Part 1: Is YouTube Shorts the New TikTok?
In general, we can’t say that YouTube Shorts is the new TikTok because YouTube Shorts is YouTube’s expansion and have its own identity than TikTok.
YouTube Shorts is playing hand in hand with TikTok as the short-form video platform, but the Shorts integration with the broader ecosystem of YouTube is its key selling point according to Google’s service.
Ironically, while YouTube is laying ways to emulate TikTok’s format, TikTok is experimenting with formats that are closer to YouTube’s traditional focus. This is why TikTok has tripled its maximum video length to three minutes for everyone and has been developing apps slowly on TV platforms like Fire TV and Android TV.
At a glance, YouTube Shorts looks pretty similar to TikTok. However, there are certain TikTok features that even the Shorts product manager Todd Sherman disagrees with is that of the YouTube Shorts. Sherman said the way TikTok works is quite an industry-wide standard than the point of view of any single app.
Even though YouTube is quite late to the short-form content game, it has a strong brand of YouTube behind it.
Thus, saying that “YouTube Shorts is the new TikTok” doesn’t even qualify in terms of the $100 million fund sanctioned for the creators of YouTube Shorts.
Part 2: YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: What Are the Similarities and Differences?
In this section, we’ve defined the analysis of YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok in the form of both a comparison table and specific points of similarities and differences.
| Basis of Comparison | YouTube Shorts | TikTok |
|---|---|---|
| Video Length/Duration | Up to 60 seconds | Up to 3 minutes |
| Aspect Ratio | 9:16 | 9:16 |
| Video Captions/Description | You can find the video title in the exact location as the TikTok caption, but the description is visible only after users click on the three dots. | Video captions are located at the bottom left. |
| Placement of Analytics | YouTube Studio | TikTok app itself |
| Dislike Button | Yes | No |
Section 1. The Similarities Between YouTube Shorts and TikTok
- Both these platforms are for short-form video content.
- The TikTok and YouTube Shorts both assist creators in adding music from their audio libraries, and users can view all videos beneath the audio library.
- Both offer analytics, including video views, likes, comments, watch time, shares, impressions, and reach. You can view these analytics on a desktop or mobile device for both platforms.
- The Shorts and TikTok feed provide a full-screen immersive experience with the engagement menu shown on the right-hand panel.
- Their feeds scroll in the same manner. Plus, there is an endless number of videos lined up for users to discover and watch. Yet, there’s no auto-scroll on either, and users must scroll manually for the following video to come up.
- Both provide tools that assist creators in earning money from their content creation.
- Users can subscribe or follow creators directly from their videos in both feeds.
- Both offer creators the ability to alter their video content’s speed and help them to set timers with the filming process.
- YouTube Shorts TikTok give creators the ability to upload video content they’ve previously filmed.
- You can add closed captions and overlaying text to both of these platforms.
- They both assist creators in setting a video for the public, so anyone can view it or set it to private.
Section 2. The Differences Between YouTube Shorts and TikTok
- The monetization features of both these platforms are entirely different. Shorts offer their ‘Shorts fund,’ whereas TikTok provides Shoutouts and Digital Gifts.
- Shorts can only be 60-seconds long, whereas TikTok’s can be as long as three minutes (it could soon be stretched to five minutes duration as per their recent test).
- TikTok allows users to add video captions that are present in the bottom left area of TikTok. At the same time, users can add a video title in Shorts which is present in the exact location as a TikTok caption. And, a video description that is only viewable when users click the three dots above the link button and click ‘Description’ can be in YouTube Shorts.
- YouTube has a large music library which gives users an abundance of undiscovered and popular songs to select from, possibly more than the TikTok offerings list.
- TikTok has a vast library of filters, including greenscreen and AR effects, whereas Shorts only provides filters that edit the video’s tone, temperature, brightness, etc.
- Shorts’ ‘private’ video option allows creators to choose or see who watches your video. On the other hand, TikTok’s ‘private’ video option only allows the creator to view the video.
- You can view the TikTok analytics directly in the TikTok app. On the other hand, YouTube Shorts analytics can be visible in YouTube Studio.
Features TikTok has, but YouTube Shorts does not…
- A stitch and duet feature, where users can add other creators’ videos to their accounts.
- A Q&A feature to leave questions for creators to answer with a video. Creators can also reply to their comments.
- A discovery tab that assists users in viewing trending sounds, effects, and hashtags.
Features YouTube Shorts has, but TikTok does not…
- A scheduling tool that assists creators in scheduling the timing of their Shorts going live.
- The option to select whether their videos are for kids or not. Or if they’d like to restrict their videos to viewers under 18.
- You can edit even after publishing.
- The option to “unlist” your Shorts, which means anyone can view it with a link to that video.
Part 3: YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: Which One Is Better for Short Video Promotion
One of the differences that may determine the success of YouTube Shorts is that it is not a traditional social media app. While TikTok entices users to create, watch, and even share videos with friends within the app, the YouTube Shorts format is pretty different from TikTok.
Since YouTube doesn’t have this simple method of direct messaging and isn’t wholly dependent on creating, sharing, and watching Shorts, it looks that it may have a hard time keeping up with TikTok’s success.
Another drawback of YouTube Shorts in comparing YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok is that Shorts isn’t available through a dedicated app like TikTok. Thus, even though it keeps up the promise of creating, watching, and sharing both long and short-form content, it may turn away those who prefer focused access to quick content. Regardless, with YouTube Shorts now starting to become available to more users, the battle in the viral video market with TikTok is sure to heat up.
Before giving you our opinion on which is the better platform for short video promotion, go through the following conversation first.
Ramona Pringle is an associate professor and a tech expert at Toronto’s Ryerson University. She said in an interview that because YouTube already has figured out video content, the transformation to add short-form video will be natural.
She also mentioned that YouTube Shorts is the platform best placed with the competition from TikTok than all other platforms. However, YouTube doesn’t need to be TikTok as it has its strategies and broad audience base.
Like Pringle, Matt Navarra, a social media consultant based in the U.K., said in an interview that Shorts is a logical evolution and extension of YouTube, which has further given rise to TikTok. But unlike TikTok, Shorts has a few features that it can take benefit from. Among these features is the extensive audio library content, the greater scope for users to remix and create duets and stuff from scratch. Undoubtedly, you can’t deny the experience of YouTube in terms of access to partnerships with the music industry and licensing.
Thus, keeping all these factors in mind, we’d like to conclude that both the YouTube Shorts and TikTok are great and considerable platforms for short video promotion. Still, we’d like to place YouTube Shorts in the upper place due to its global availability. Whereas TikTok is already banned in certain countries.
It also depends upon the audience base of the country as to which platform is in use the most. Suppose it’s TikTok that people primarily use in a particular country or location where the brand wants to advertise itself. In that case, going with TikTok for short video promotion is better and vice versa.
To get more information, click the following video!
TikTok or YouTube? Creators at VidCon 2023 Reveal Their Platform of Choice
Conclusion
So, this is our detailed overview of YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok.
Since YouTube wants its new platform to progress and stand a chance in front of TikTok, they will make Shorts a priority, and thus much more likely to promote it to a broad audience.
As we step further into the year, it is yet to consider which short-form video platform will be popular among the creators, marketers, and consumers.
Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox
Aug 21, 2023• Proven solutions
YouTube Shorts is the latest feature designed to mimic TikTok’s creation, but can it go hand in hand with one of the biggest social media apps? Let’s discuss this scenario in detail in this article!
YouTube’s TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts, is now rocking globally. Seeing the success of Instagram Reels and TikTok, it seems like YouTube didn’t want to lag behind the game. So in September last year, it decided to step into short-form content via YouTube Shorts, a social platform for quick 60-second videos hosted on the YouTube app.
According to the Shorts product lead Todd Sherman, the social media giant aims to unleash new grounds for creativity.
On the other hand, TikTok is a short-form, video-sharing app that assists users to share and make 15-second to 60-seconds videos on any topic.
TikTok contains a separate app for the Chinese market, Douyin, with 300 million-plus active monthly users. The new app’s logo is a merger of the Duyin and Musical.ly logos.
And, we’re going to discuss the comparison of both these giants, i.e., YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok, in terms of which app is better for making short videos.
Part 1: Is YouTube Shorts the New TikTok?
In general, we can’t say that YouTube Shorts is the new TikTok because YouTube Shorts is YouTube’s expansion and have its own identity than TikTok.
YouTube Shorts is playing hand in hand with TikTok as the short-form video platform, but the Shorts integration with the broader ecosystem of YouTube is its key selling point according to Google’s service.
Ironically, while YouTube is laying ways to emulate TikTok’s format, TikTok is experimenting with formats that are closer to YouTube’s traditional focus. This is why TikTok has tripled its maximum video length to three minutes for everyone and has been developing apps slowly on TV platforms like Fire TV and Android TV.
At a glance, YouTube Shorts looks pretty similar to TikTok. However, there are certain TikTok features that even the Shorts product manager Todd Sherman disagrees with is that of the YouTube Shorts. Sherman said the way TikTok works is quite an industry-wide standard than the point of view of any single app.
Even though YouTube is quite late to the short-form content game, it has a strong brand of YouTube behind it.
Thus, saying that “YouTube Shorts is the new TikTok” doesn’t even qualify in terms of the $100 million fund sanctioned for the creators of YouTube Shorts.
Part 2: YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: What Are the Similarities and Differences?
In this section, we’ve defined the analysis of YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok in the form of both a comparison table and specific points of similarities and differences.
| Basis of Comparison | YouTube Shorts | TikTok |
|---|---|---|
| Video Length/Duration | Up to 60 seconds | Up to 3 minutes |
| Aspect Ratio | 9:16 | 9:16 |
| Video Captions/Description | You can find the video title in the exact location as the TikTok caption, but the description is visible only after users click on the three dots. | Video captions are located at the bottom left. |
| Placement of Analytics | YouTube Studio | TikTok app itself |
| Dislike Button | Yes | No |
Section 1. The Similarities Between YouTube Shorts and TikTok
- Both these platforms are for short-form video content.
- The TikTok and YouTube Shorts both assist creators in adding music from their audio libraries, and users can view all videos beneath the audio library.
- Both offer analytics, including video views, likes, comments, watch time, shares, impressions, and reach. You can view these analytics on a desktop or mobile device for both platforms.
- The Shorts and TikTok feed provide a full-screen immersive experience with the engagement menu shown on the right-hand panel.
- Their feeds scroll in the same manner. Plus, there is an endless number of videos lined up for users to discover and watch. Yet, there’s no auto-scroll on either, and users must scroll manually for the following video to come up.
- Both provide tools that assist creators in earning money from their content creation.
- Users can subscribe or follow creators directly from their videos in both feeds.
- Both offer creators the ability to alter their video content’s speed and help them to set timers with the filming process.
- YouTube Shorts TikTok give creators the ability to upload video content they’ve previously filmed.
- You can add closed captions and overlaying text to both of these platforms.
- They both assist creators in setting a video for the public, so anyone can view it or set it to private.
Section 2. The Differences Between YouTube Shorts and TikTok
- The monetization features of both these platforms are entirely different. Shorts offer their ‘Shorts fund,’ whereas TikTok provides Shoutouts and Digital Gifts.
- Shorts can only be 60-seconds long, whereas TikTok’s can be as long as three minutes (it could soon be stretched to five minutes duration as per their recent test).
- TikTok allows users to add video captions that are present in the bottom left area of TikTok. At the same time, users can add a video title in Shorts which is present in the exact location as a TikTok caption. And, a video description that is only viewable when users click the three dots above the link button and click ‘Description’ can be in YouTube Shorts.
- YouTube has a large music library which gives users an abundance of undiscovered and popular songs to select from, possibly more than the TikTok offerings list.
- TikTok has a vast library of filters, including greenscreen and AR effects, whereas Shorts only provides filters that edit the video’s tone, temperature, brightness, etc.
- Shorts’ ‘private’ video option allows creators to choose or see who watches your video. On the other hand, TikTok’s ‘private’ video option only allows the creator to view the video.
- You can view the TikTok analytics directly in the TikTok app. On the other hand, YouTube Shorts analytics can be visible in YouTube Studio.
Features TikTok has, but YouTube Shorts does not…
- A stitch and duet feature, where users can add other creators’ videos to their accounts.
- A Q&A feature to leave questions for creators to answer with a video. Creators can also reply to their comments.
- A discovery tab that assists users in viewing trending sounds, effects, and hashtags.
Features YouTube Shorts has, but TikTok does not…
- A scheduling tool that assists creators in scheduling the timing of their Shorts going live.
- The option to select whether their videos are for kids or not. Or if they’d like to restrict their videos to viewers under 18.
- You can edit even after publishing.
- The option to “unlist” your Shorts, which means anyone can view it with a link to that video.
Part 3: YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: Which One Is Better for Short Video Promotion
One of the differences that may determine the success of YouTube Shorts is that it is not a traditional social media app. While TikTok entices users to create, watch, and even share videos with friends within the app, the YouTube Shorts format is pretty different from TikTok.
Since YouTube doesn’t have this simple method of direct messaging and isn’t wholly dependent on creating, sharing, and watching Shorts, it looks that it may have a hard time keeping up with TikTok’s success.
Another drawback of YouTube Shorts in comparing YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok is that Shorts isn’t available through a dedicated app like TikTok. Thus, even though it keeps up the promise of creating, watching, and sharing both long and short-form content, it may turn away those who prefer focused access to quick content. Regardless, with YouTube Shorts now starting to become available to more users, the battle in the viral video market with TikTok is sure to heat up.
Before giving you our opinion on which is the better platform for short video promotion, go through the following conversation first.
Ramona Pringle is an associate professor and a tech expert at Toronto’s Ryerson University. She said in an interview that because YouTube already has figured out video content, the transformation to add short-form video will be natural.
She also mentioned that YouTube Shorts is the platform best placed with the competition from TikTok than all other platforms. However, YouTube doesn’t need to be TikTok as it has its strategies and broad audience base.
Like Pringle, Matt Navarra, a social media consultant based in the U.K., said in an interview that Shorts is a logical evolution and extension of YouTube, which has further given rise to TikTok. But unlike TikTok, Shorts has a few features that it can take benefit from. Among these features is the extensive audio library content, the greater scope for users to remix and create duets and stuff from scratch. Undoubtedly, you can’t deny the experience of YouTube in terms of access to partnerships with the music industry and licensing.
Thus, keeping all these factors in mind, we’d like to conclude that both the YouTube Shorts and TikTok are great and considerable platforms for short video promotion. Still, we’d like to place YouTube Shorts in the upper place due to its global availability. Whereas TikTok is already banned in certain countries.
It also depends upon the audience base of the country as to which platform is in use the most. Suppose it’s TikTok that people primarily use in a particular country or location where the brand wants to advertise itself. In that case, going with TikTok for short video promotion is better and vice versa.
To get more information, click the following video!
TikTok or YouTube? Creators at VidCon 2023 Reveal Their Platform of Choice
Conclusion
So, this is our detailed overview of YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok.
Since YouTube wants its new platform to progress and stand a chance in front of TikTok, they will make Shorts a priority, and thus much more likely to promote it to a broad audience.
As we step further into the year, it is yet to consider which short-form video platform will be popular among the creators, marketers, and consumers.
Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox
Aug 21, 2023• Proven solutions
YouTube Shorts is the latest feature designed to mimic TikTok’s creation, but can it go hand in hand with one of the biggest social media apps? Let’s discuss this scenario in detail in this article!
YouTube’s TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts, is now rocking globally. Seeing the success of Instagram Reels and TikTok, it seems like YouTube didn’t want to lag behind the game. So in September last year, it decided to step into short-form content via YouTube Shorts, a social platform for quick 60-second videos hosted on the YouTube app.
According to the Shorts product lead Todd Sherman, the social media giant aims to unleash new grounds for creativity.
On the other hand, TikTok is a short-form, video-sharing app that assists users to share and make 15-second to 60-seconds videos on any topic.
TikTok contains a separate app for the Chinese market, Douyin, with 300 million-plus active monthly users. The new app’s logo is a merger of the Duyin and Musical.ly logos.
And, we’re going to discuss the comparison of both these giants, i.e., YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok, in terms of which app is better for making short videos.
Part 1: Is YouTube Shorts the New TikTok?
In general, we can’t say that YouTube Shorts is the new TikTok because YouTube Shorts is YouTube’s expansion and have its own identity than TikTok.
YouTube Shorts is playing hand in hand with TikTok as the short-form video platform, but the Shorts integration with the broader ecosystem of YouTube is its key selling point according to Google’s service.
Ironically, while YouTube is laying ways to emulate TikTok’s format, TikTok is experimenting with formats that are closer to YouTube’s traditional focus. This is why TikTok has tripled its maximum video length to three minutes for everyone and has been developing apps slowly on TV platforms like Fire TV and Android TV.
At a glance, YouTube Shorts looks pretty similar to TikTok. However, there are certain TikTok features that even the Shorts product manager Todd Sherman disagrees with is that of the YouTube Shorts. Sherman said the way TikTok works is quite an industry-wide standard than the point of view of any single app.
Even though YouTube is quite late to the short-form content game, it has a strong brand of YouTube behind it.
Thus, saying that “YouTube Shorts is the new TikTok” doesn’t even qualify in terms of the $100 million fund sanctioned for the creators of YouTube Shorts.
Part 2: YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: What Are the Similarities and Differences?
In this section, we’ve defined the analysis of YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok in the form of both a comparison table and specific points of similarities and differences.
| Basis of Comparison | YouTube Shorts | TikTok |
|---|---|---|
| Video Length/Duration | Up to 60 seconds | Up to 3 minutes |
| Aspect Ratio | 9:16 | 9:16 |
| Video Captions/Description | You can find the video title in the exact location as the TikTok caption, but the description is visible only after users click on the three dots. | Video captions are located at the bottom left. |
| Placement of Analytics | YouTube Studio | TikTok app itself |
| Dislike Button | Yes | No |
Section 1. The Similarities Between YouTube Shorts and TikTok
- Both these platforms are for short-form video content.
- The TikTok and YouTube Shorts both assist creators in adding music from their audio libraries, and users can view all videos beneath the audio library.
- Both offer analytics, including video views, likes, comments, watch time, shares, impressions, and reach. You can view these analytics on a desktop or mobile device for both platforms.
- The Shorts and TikTok feed provide a full-screen immersive experience with the engagement menu shown on the right-hand panel.
- Their feeds scroll in the same manner. Plus, there is an endless number of videos lined up for users to discover and watch. Yet, there’s no auto-scroll on either, and users must scroll manually for the following video to come up.
- Both provide tools that assist creators in earning money from their content creation.
- Users can subscribe or follow creators directly from their videos in both feeds.
- Both offer creators the ability to alter their video content’s speed and help them to set timers with the filming process.
- YouTube Shorts TikTok give creators the ability to upload video content they’ve previously filmed.
- You can add closed captions and overlaying text to both of these platforms.
- They both assist creators in setting a video for the public, so anyone can view it or set it to private.
Section 2. The Differences Between YouTube Shorts and TikTok
- The monetization features of both these platforms are entirely different. Shorts offer their ‘Shorts fund,’ whereas TikTok provides Shoutouts and Digital Gifts.
- Shorts can only be 60-seconds long, whereas TikTok’s can be as long as three minutes (it could soon be stretched to five minutes duration as per their recent test).
- TikTok allows users to add video captions that are present in the bottom left area of TikTok. At the same time, users can add a video title in Shorts which is present in the exact location as a TikTok caption. And, a video description that is only viewable when users click the three dots above the link button and click ‘Description’ can be in YouTube Shorts.
- YouTube has a large music library which gives users an abundance of undiscovered and popular songs to select from, possibly more than the TikTok offerings list.
- TikTok has a vast library of filters, including greenscreen and AR effects, whereas Shorts only provides filters that edit the video’s tone, temperature, brightness, etc.
- Shorts’ ‘private’ video option allows creators to choose or see who watches your video. On the other hand, TikTok’s ‘private’ video option only allows the creator to view the video.
- You can view the TikTok analytics directly in the TikTok app. On the other hand, YouTube Shorts analytics can be visible in YouTube Studio.
Features TikTok has, but YouTube Shorts does not…
- A stitch and duet feature, where users can add other creators’ videos to their accounts.
- A Q&A feature to leave questions for creators to answer with a video. Creators can also reply to their comments.
- A discovery tab that assists users in viewing trending sounds, effects, and hashtags.
Features YouTube Shorts has, but TikTok does not…
- A scheduling tool that assists creators in scheduling the timing of their Shorts going live.
- The option to select whether their videos are for kids or not. Or if they’d like to restrict their videos to viewers under 18.
- You can edit even after publishing.
- The option to “unlist” your Shorts, which means anyone can view it with a link to that video.
Part 3: YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: Which One Is Better for Short Video Promotion
One of the differences that may determine the success of YouTube Shorts is that it is not a traditional social media app. While TikTok entices users to create, watch, and even share videos with friends within the app, the YouTube Shorts format is pretty different from TikTok.
Since YouTube doesn’t have this simple method of direct messaging and isn’t wholly dependent on creating, sharing, and watching Shorts, it looks that it may have a hard time keeping up with TikTok’s success.
Another drawback of YouTube Shorts in comparing YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok is that Shorts isn’t available through a dedicated app like TikTok. Thus, even though it keeps up the promise of creating, watching, and sharing both long and short-form content, it may turn away those who prefer focused access to quick content. Regardless, with YouTube Shorts now starting to become available to more users, the battle in the viral video market with TikTok is sure to heat up.
Before giving you our opinion on which is the better platform for short video promotion, go through the following conversation first.
Ramona Pringle is an associate professor and a tech expert at Toronto’s Ryerson University. She said in an interview that because YouTube already has figured out video content, the transformation to add short-form video will be natural.
She also mentioned that YouTube Shorts is the platform best placed with the competition from TikTok than all other platforms. However, YouTube doesn’t need to be TikTok as it has its strategies and broad audience base.
Like Pringle, Matt Navarra, a social media consultant based in the U.K., said in an interview that Shorts is a logical evolution and extension of YouTube, which has further given rise to TikTok. But unlike TikTok, Shorts has a few features that it can take benefit from. Among these features is the extensive audio library content, the greater scope for users to remix and create duets and stuff from scratch. Undoubtedly, you can’t deny the experience of YouTube in terms of access to partnerships with the music industry and licensing.
Thus, keeping all these factors in mind, we’d like to conclude that both the YouTube Shorts and TikTok are great and considerable platforms for short video promotion. Still, we’d like to place YouTube Shorts in the upper place due to its global availability. Whereas TikTok is already banned in certain countries.
It also depends upon the audience base of the country as to which platform is in use the most. Suppose it’s TikTok that people primarily use in a particular country or location where the brand wants to advertise itself. In that case, going with TikTok for short video promotion is better and vice versa.
To get more information, click the following video!
TikTok or YouTube? Creators at VidCon 2023 Reveal Their Platform of Choice
Conclusion
So, this is our detailed overview of YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok.
Since YouTube wants its new platform to progress and stand a chance in front of TikTok, they will make Shorts a priority, and thus much more likely to promote it to a broad audience.
As we step further into the year, it is yet to consider which short-form video platform will be popular among the creators, marketers, and consumers.
Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox
Aug 21, 2023• Proven solutions
YouTube Shorts is the latest feature designed to mimic TikTok’s creation, but can it go hand in hand with one of the biggest social media apps? Let’s discuss this scenario in detail in this article!
YouTube’s TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts, is now rocking globally. Seeing the success of Instagram Reels and TikTok, it seems like YouTube didn’t want to lag behind the game. So in September last year, it decided to step into short-form content via YouTube Shorts, a social platform for quick 60-second videos hosted on the YouTube app.
According to the Shorts product lead Todd Sherman, the social media giant aims to unleash new grounds for creativity.
On the other hand, TikTok is a short-form, video-sharing app that assists users to share and make 15-second to 60-seconds videos on any topic.
TikTok contains a separate app for the Chinese market, Douyin, with 300 million-plus active monthly users. The new app’s logo is a merger of the Duyin and Musical.ly logos.
And, we’re going to discuss the comparison of both these giants, i.e., YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok, in terms of which app is better for making short videos.
Part 1: Is YouTube Shorts the New TikTok?
In general, we can’t say that YouTube Shorts is the new TikTok because YouTube Shorts is YouTube’s expansion and have its own identity than TikTok.
YouTube Shorts is playing hand in hand with TikTok as the short-form video platform, but the Shorts integration with the broader ecosystem of YouTube is its key selling point according to Google’s service.
Ironically, while YouTube is laying ways to emulate TikTok’s format, TikTok is experimenting with formats that are closer to YouTube’s traditional focus. This is why TikTok has tripled its maximum video length to three minutes for everyone and has been developing apps slowly on TV platforms like Fire TV and Android TV.
At a glance, YouTube Shorts looks pretty similar to TikTok. However, there are certain TikTok features that even the Shorts product manager Todd Sherman disagrees with is that of the YouTube Shorts. Sherman said the way TikTok works is quite an industry-wide standard than the point of view of any single app.
Even though YouTube is quite late to the short-form content game, it has a strong brand of YouTube behind it.
Thus, saying that “YouTube Shorts is the new TikTok” doesn’t even qualify in terms of the $100 million fund sanctioned for the creators of YouTube Shorts.
Part 2: YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: What Are the Similarities and Differences?
In this section, we’ve defined the analysis of YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok in the form of both a comparison table and specific points of similarities and differences.
| Basis of Comparison | YouTube Shorts | TikTok |
|---|---|---|
| Video Length/Duration | Up to 60 seconds | Up to 3 minutes |
| Aspect Ratio | 9:16 | 9:16 |
| Video Captions/Description | You can find the video title in the exact location as the TikTok caption, but the description is visible only after users click on the three dots. | Video captions are located at the bottom left. |
| Placement of Analytics | YouTube Studio | TikTok app itself |
| Dislike Button | Yes | No |
Section 1. The Similarities Between YouTube Shorts and TikTok
- Both these platforms are for short-form video content.
- The TikTok and YouTube Shorts both assist creators in adding music from their audio libraries, and users can view all videos beneath the audio library.
- Both offer analytics, including video views, likes, comments, watch time, shares, impressions, and reach. You can view these analytics on a desktop or mobile device for both platforms.
- The Shorts and TikTok feed provide a full-screen immersive experience with the engagement menu shown on the right-hand panel.
- Their feeds scroll in the same manner. Plus, there is an endless number of videos lined up for users to discover and watch. Yet, there’s no auto-scroll on either, and users must scroll manually for the following video to come up.
- Both provide tools that assist creators in earning money from their content creation.
- Users can subscribe or follow creators directly from their videos in both feeds.
- Both offer creators the ability to alter their video content’s speed and help them to set timers with the filming process.
- YouTube Shorts TikTok give creators the ability to upload video content they’ve previously filmed.
- You can add closed captions and overlaying text to both of these platforms.
- They both assist creators in setting a video for the public, so anyone can view it or set it to private.
Section 2. The Differences Between YouTube Shorts and TikTok
- The monetization features of both these platforms are entirely different. Shorts offer their ‘Shorts fund,’ whereas TikTok provides Shoutouts and Digital Gifts.
- Shorts can only be 60-seconds long, whereas TikTok’s can be as long as three minutes (it could soon be stretched to five minutes duration as per their recent test).
- TikTok allows users to add video captions that are present in the bottom left area of TikTok. At the same time, users can add a video title in Shorts which is present in the exact location as a TikTok caption. And, a video description that is only viewable when users click the three dots above the link button and click ‘Description’ can be in YouTube Shorts.
- YouTube has a large music library which gives users an abundance of undiscovered and popular songs to select from, possibly more than the TikTok offerings list.
- TikTok has a vast library of filters, including greenscreen and AR effects, whereas Shorts only provides filters that edit the video’s tone, temperature, brightness, etc.
- Shorts’ ‘private’ video option allows creators to choose or see who watches your video. On the other hand, TikTok’s ‘private’ video option only allows the creator to view the video.
- You can view the TikTok analytics directly in the TikTok app. On the other hand, YouTube Shorts analytics can be visible in YouTube Studio.
Features TikTok has, but YouTube Shorts does not…
- A stitch and duet feature, where users can add other creators’ videos to their accounts.
- A Q&A feature to leave questions for creators to answer with a video. Creators can also reply to their comments.
- A discovery tab that assists users in viewing trending sounds, effects, and hashtags.
Features YouTube Shorts has, but TikTok does not…
- A scheduling tool that assists creators in scheduling the timing of their Shorts going live.
- The option to select whether their videos are for kids or not. Or if they’d like to restrict their videos to viewers under 18.
- You can edit even after publishing.
- The option to “unlist” your Shorts, which means anyone can view it with a link to that video.
Part 3: YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok: Which One Is Better for Short Video Promotion
One of the differences that may determine the success of YouTube Shorts is that it is not a traditional social media app. While TikTok entices users to create, watch, and even share videos with friends within the app, the YouTube Shorts format is pretty different from TikTok.
Since YouTube doesn’t have this simple method of direct messaging and isn’t wholly dependent on creating, sharing, and watching Shorts, it looks that it may have a hard time keeping up with TikTok’s success.
Another drawback of YouTube Shorts in comparing YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok is that Shorts isn’t available through a dedicated app like TikTok. Thus, even though it keeps up the promise of creating, watching, and sharing both long and short-form content, it may turn away those who prefer focused access to quick content. Regardless, with YouTube Shorts now starting to become available to more users, the battle in the viral video market with TikTok is sure to heat up.
Before giving you our opinion on which is the better platform for short video promotion, go through the following conversation first.
Ramona Pringle is an associate professor and a tech expert at Toronto’s Ryerson University. She said in an interview that because YouTube already has figured out video content, the transformation to add short-form video will be natural.
She also mentioned that YouTube Shorts is the platform best placed with the competition from TikTok than all other platforms. However, YouTube doesn’t need to be TikTok as it has its strategies and broad audience base.
Like Pringle, Matt Navarra, a social media consultant based in the U.K., said in an interview that Shorts is a logical evolution and extension of YouTube, which has further given rise to TikTok. But unlike TikTok, Shorts has a few features that it can take benefit from. Among these features is the extensive audio library content, the greater scope for users to remix and create duets and stuff from scratch. Undoubtedly, you can’t deny the experience of YouTube in terms of access to partnerships with the music industry and licensing.
Thus, keeping all these factors in mind, we’d like to conclude that both the YouTube Shorts and TikTok are great and considerable platforms for short video promotion. Still, we’d like to place YouTube Shorts in the upper place due to its global availability. Whereas TikTok is already banned in certain countries.
It also depends upon the audience base of the country as to which platform is in use the most. Suppose it’s TikTok that people primarily use in a particular country or location where the brand wants to advertise itself. In that case, going with TikTok for short video promotion is better and vice versa.
To get more information, click the following video!
TikTok or YouTube? Creators at VidCon 2023 Reveal Their Platform of Choice
Conclusion
So, this is our detailed overview of YouTube Shorts vs. TikTok.
Since YouTube wants its new platform to progress and stand a chance in front of TikTok, they will make Shorts a priority, and thus much more likely to promote it to a broad audience.
As we step further into the year, it is yet to consider which short-form video platform will be popular among the creators, marketers, and consumers.
Shanoon Cox
Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Shanoon Cox
Triumph Through Tales: 3 Crucial Strategies for Channels
The Best Storytelling Techniques to Grow Your YouTube Channel
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.
Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:
1. Create Suspense
The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.
The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.
What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?
When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.
Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:
- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)
- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)
- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)
- Limited time (example: prom is next week)
- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)
You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!
Raise Questions After Questions
A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.
For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?
This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.
Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.
Include a Cliffhanger
We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.
But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.
In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.
How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger
Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.
Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.
A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.
Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.
Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .
Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:
1. Slow Down and Have Pauses
As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.
Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.
2. Use Repetition
Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.
In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.
The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?
Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.
The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.
2. Use Empathy
A storyteller must be empathetic.
If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.
If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.
Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.
Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures
If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.
It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.
However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.
Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.
Evoke the Senses
If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.
Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What does it smell like?
- What can you hear?
- What do you see?
- What can you physically feel?
This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.
Use Metaphors
As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.
If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”
That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.
By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.
3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey
Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.
- Is it educational?
- Is it entertaining?
- Is it motivational or inspiring?
Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?
YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.
It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.
His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.
Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.
Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers
Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.
Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:
1. Create Suspense
The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.
The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.
What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?
When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.
Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:
- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)
- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)
- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)
- Limited time (example: prom is next week)
- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)
You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!
Raise Questions After Questions
A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.
For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?
This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.
Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.
Include a Cliffhanger
We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.
But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.
In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.
How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger
Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.
Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.
A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.
Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.
Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .
Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:
1. Slow Down and Have Pauses
As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.
Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.
2. Use Repetition
Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.
In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.
The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?
Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.
The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.
2. Use Empathy
A storyteller must be empathetic.
If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.
If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.
Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.
Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures
If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.
It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.
However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.
Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.
Evoke the Senses
If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.
Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What does it smell like?
- What can you hear?
- What do you see?
- What can you physically feel?
This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.
Use Metaphors
As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.
If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”
That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.
By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.
3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey
Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.
- Is it educational?
- Is it entertaining?
- Is it motivational or inspiring?
Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?
YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.
It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.
His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.
Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.
Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers
Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.
Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:
1. Create Suspense
The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.
The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.
What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?
When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.
Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:
- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)
- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)
- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)
- Limited time (example: prom is next week)
- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)
You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!
Raise Questions After Questions
A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.
For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?
This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.
Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.
Include a Cliffhanger
We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.
But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.
In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.
How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger
Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.
Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.
A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.
Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.
Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .
Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:
1. Slow Down and Have Pauses
As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.
Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.
2. Use Repetition
Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.
In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.
The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?
Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.
The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.
2. Use Empathy
A storyteller must be empathetic.
If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.
If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.
Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.
Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures
If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.
It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.
However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.
Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.
Evoke the Senses
If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.
Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What does it smell like?
- What can you hear?
- What do you see?
- What can you physically feel?
This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.
Use Metaphors
As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.
If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”
That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.
By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.
3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey
Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.
- Is it educational?
- Is it entertaining?
- Is it motivational or inspiring?
Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?
YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.
It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.
His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.
Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.
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Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
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Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
In the distracting world, we live in, you need to be a good storyteller to grow your YouTube channel. Your audience is not going to stick around to watch your whole video if your content isn’t enticing or relatable. If you want to get people to watch all your videos, you need to get them emotionally invested with your stories.
Here are 3 methods for creating an awesome story:
1. Create Suspense
The hero has an objective, but the plan might fail.
The likelihood of something going wrong is what makes a story suspenseful. When you tell a suspenseful story, your audience will have a heightened focus and a strong motivation to continue listening. They want to know if the hero succeeds. Keep the audience waiting and expecting. Don’t give away the ending right away.
What Does a Suspenseful Story Sound Like?
When we talk about a story that is dragging on, it is because there is no suspense. There is nothing at stake, there are no obstacles, there is no problem and, with no problem, there is no promise of resolution.
Here are a few examples you can use to pump more suspense into your story:
- Address a fear (example: being alone for the prom)
- An objective (example: asking the crush out to the dance)
- Consequences of failing (example: being embarrassed in front of the whole school)
- Limited time (example: prom is next week)
- Obstacles (example: the crush has an aggressive ex.)
You can feel your heart rate speeding up simply thinking about the character’s story in the example. Does it have a happy ending or not? We want to know!
Raise Questions After Questions
A good storyteller knows that as soon as they answer a question for their audience, they need to present another one. The audience will always need to have a puzzle in their mind, one that needs to be solved. That is what will keep their interest.
For example: If the hero ends up going to the prom with his crush, the next big question can be: Will they kiss at the last dance?
This continues building on the tension and increasing the stakes evermore.
Check out the suspenseful story from YouTuber, MissRemiAshten . The way she tells the story, we discover more and about her psycho neighbor and the incident gradually. A little bit of information about the neighbor is revealed at a time… not all at once.
Include a Cliffhanger
We’ve all had those moments at the end of an intense television show where we are shouting at the screen because it suddenly cut to black as the main characters were left in a precarious position. That emotional outburst is brought to us by a good cliffhanger, and a good cliffhanger can assure us that the audience will return for more.
But there needs to be more! A cliffhanger is a promise to the viewer that eventually they will be rewarded for their patience and it will be satisfying.
In this cliffhanger from Casey Neistat, he simply asks us a question, “Was that good?” This calls upon us to recall all the awesome YouTube videos we have seen created by filmmakers that aren’t considered “prestigious.” A cliffhanger does not have to end with an epic reveal; it can wrap up with loose ends and allow the audience to tie it up themselves.
How to Deliver a Good Cliffhanger
Applying good cliffhangers to your YouTube videos is a balancing act. You want to draw your audience in, but you also need to have a payoff that is worth the wait.
Done well, a cliffhanger will leave your audience wanting more. Done poorly, a cliffhanger will leave your audience feeling to mislead and a little ripped off, hesitant to listen to more stories from you.
A good cliffhanger does not have to be life or death, but it does have to be the moment the story has been leading up to.
Before you start telling your story, consider the key details that are most impactful.
Once you have the points you want to hit, plan out the reveal. Weave the story together, but withhold the pivotal details until the cliffhanger. Thendeliver it on camera confidently .
Here are two ways you can present your cliffhanger for amplified effect:
1. Slow Down and Have Pauses
As your story intensifies, bring the pace down — or stop completely. The silence becomes the cliffhanger. It can last a second or more, depending on how confident you are in the tension you have built.
Your next words or shots can be the reveal. If you are skilled enough, you can lead into another story one that connects to the previous. If you are trying this, make sure that in the end, the payoff has double the impact. The reveal needs to be twice as powerful if you are going to take the audience on another journey before wrapping up and answering the long-awaited questions.
2. Use Repetition
Whether you want to misdirect your audience or hammer home a point, using repetition throughout your story will help you build the tension you need to establish the cliffhanger.
In this example, we see YouTuber, A little bit of Monika uses both pace and repetition in her storytelling method.
The video starts off at a speedy pace, all the way until the last scene where the confrontation occurs. That’s her slowing down the story so that we are all anticipating the reveal. Is she or is she not actor, Saoirse Ronan?
Through this short video, the repetition of the name is used to show her confidence that her roommate is not who she said it is. The more affirming she becomes, the more likely we as the viewers are going to side with her. This is a simple example of misdirection.
The more you say something or show something, the more important it becomes for the audience — at least, you want it to appear important.
2. Use Empathy
A storyteller must be empathetic.
If your audience cannot empathize with what you are communicating, it would not have the intended effect. Storytelling is all about taking people out of their bodies and putting them in someone else’s.
If you are telling a story about the time your car broke down, you want people to empathize and feel the helplessness of being stuck on a highway, waving cars down to help.
Empathy makes people feel more human. Telling a story people can relate to, even if it didn’t happen to them, is a sign of a quality storyteller.
Don’t Use Too Many Facts and Figures
If you began your story by saying that 1/1,000 cars on the highway break down, that doesn’t evoke any major emotion. There is nothing human about it.
It’s an interesting stat, sure, but the audience is unsure how they should respond. Is that a lot? Is that because of the highway? Is it because of the drivers? Nobody knows… it’s numbered with no context.
However, if you told the story about that time you had to abandon your vehicle and walk down the highway in order to make your important appointment. Suddenly, the audience can empathize with the tribulations you have gone through.
Facts and figures are useful in reports, but not as much in compelling stories.
Evoke the Senses
If I talk about hot melting chocolate, standing in the rain, or the smell of your grandmother’s bedroom, your senses are activated. From all your life experiences, your brain is able to form familiar sensations without any physical changes to your surrounding. That’s the power of storytelling.
Good storytellers use these sensory details and descriptive imagery to spice up a story. This draws the audience in and gives them a more immersive experience when listening to your stories.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What does it smell like?
- What can you hear?
- What do you see?
- What can you physically feel?
This example from YouTuber, Kiril Dobrev perfectly exemplifies what sensory igniting storytelling can do. He illustrates the sensation of being in Hong Kong, not simply through visuals but physical motions and audio effects.
Use Metaphors
As a YouTube storyteller, sometimes you will have to communicate complex ideas. When that happens, use a metaphor to increase the impact.
If you are telling a story about how much you dislike your teacher, you can list off all the ways she is unlikable or you can sum it up with a line like this: “My teacher makes the school a prison.”
That is a metaphor comparing school to prison. Most people haven’t been to prison, but understand what the metaphor is insinuating. School is not a fun place to be because of that teacher.
By connecting two different things, you allow the audience to paint the image in their mind quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of words to create a memorable metaphor. I encourage you to use metaphors anytime you need to address something complicated.
3. Take the Audience on a Meaningful Journey
Perhaps the most important element of a good story is that the journey is meaningful.
- Is it educational?
- Is it entertaining?
- Is it motivational or inspiring?
Knowing how you want to leave your audience feeling is foresight that will improve your YouTube storytelling abilities. Before you start telling your tale, ask: How do I want to change my audience?
YouTuber, Jamie Windsor tells a few stories connected to creativity and plagiarism. Anyone who has ever created anything can relate to his story and thus his audience can empathize.
It is also clear as a viewer that at the end of this 15-minute long video, his audience will have gone on a meaningful journey with him.
His story is a cautionary tale. He wants to educate us so that we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. He used his real-life experience to teach us and that makes it a meaningful video to watch. That was a good story.
Are there any YouTubers that you consider to be fantastic storytellers? Please share it in the comments box below.
Select a Versatile Video Editing Software to Stand Up from Numerous YouTubers
Users worldwide highly recommend Filmora because it comes loaded with various features, which helps to discover the editing skills, add an image to the imagination, and empower creativity.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
- Title: "Flash-Fixing Fame Is It YouTubes Shorts or TikTok for Quick Content Conquest for 2024"
- Author: Thomas
- Created at : 2024-05-31 12:39:29
- Updated at : 2024-06-01 12:39:29
- Link: https://youtube-help.techidaily.com/flash-fixing-fame-is-it-youtubes-shorts-or-tiktok-for-quick-content-conquest-for-2024/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
