YouTube Just Launched Shorts Beta in All Regions

A new article on Social Media Today reports that while TikTok is still leading the app download charts, YouTube is definitely not going to give up any video content ground without a fight.

This week, as part of its continued effort to quell the popularity of the short-form video app, YouTube has expanded beta testing of its Shorts tools to users in the UAE and the Middle East – the next stage for its TikTok clone effort.

YouTube first launched Shorts to users in India last September – two months after TikTok was banned in the region – before expanding it to the US user in March this year. The Shorts feed has proven popular, despite it being a direct replica of TikTok. This is from YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, Neal Mohan:

“We are rolling out the @YouTube #Shorts beta to everywhere where YouTube is available this week! Excited to see the creativity from mobile @YouTubeCreators, esp how they use our remix audio feature from videos across YouTube.”

YouTube’s parent company Alphabet recently reported that Shorts is now up to 6.5 billion daily views, rising from 3.5 billion at the end of 2020. A swathe of TikTok creators is expanding their presences over to YouTube and TikTok, with big-name TikTokers like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae amassing millions of followers on their YouTube channels. While YouTube Shorts is not now and never will be TikTok, it doesn’t have to be. It just has to be close enough to provide a viable alternative for TikTok stars who may be considering other options.