And just when you thought that YouTube was done dropping major updates for the year, it drops a major update. And this one could be particularly significant – you know how Shorts dynamically changed throughout the year, right? Well, YouTube’s not done tweaking it up. As part of a recent batch of add-ons for creators, YouTube’s including more Shorts elements to help make it an even bigger option for next year. 

New, New Stuff

To start, YouTube’s giving Shorts creators the ability to choose a frame from their clip as their thumbnail within the Shorts creation process, which will first come to Android users. Just to set the record straight, creators can already choose Shorts thumbnails within YouTube Studio; this new process just makes it easier and more streamlined. Here’s how to select a Shorts thumbnail frame (Androids): 

  • Record or import a video with the Shorts camera then navigate to the final upload screen.

  • Tap the pencil icon that is overlaid over the thumbnail of your video.

  • Scrub along your video’s timeline to pick a thumbnail then hit ‘Done’.

  • Upload your Short.

YouTube says that it’s not currently possible to change the thumbnail after your Short has been uploaded, but it’s something that it does flag for the future. Android users hold your phone because this update is rolling out starting today. 

On the topic of making Shorts a bigger focus, YouTube also just launched a new series of Shorts myth-busting clips on the YouTube Creators channel, which covers various aspects of the Shorts process. Yes, there are questions about the algorithm, along with best practices, common tips, and more. It’s certainly worth looking at.

In other news, YouTube has also publicly launched its new automated system for overdubbing your content into another language. YouTube calls the new process ‘Aloud’, which was developed by YouTube’s ‘Area 120’ project team and can take videos in English and translate them into other languages. YouTube says that it could be a great way to expand your audience reach. The only possible issue here is that your videos, once translated, might suffer from the dreaded lip sync mismatch, which, at most, can be entertainingly immersion-breaking for select viewers.

There’s also a new chat stream engagement option called ‘YouTube Emotes’, which will enable viewers to share little graphics within their comments on clips. It kind of works the same way as ‘Twitch Emotes’ do, providing another engagement option to help make chat streams a bit more expressive and interactive. YouTube notes that it’ll also eventually provide another subscription incentive option, flagging ‘Channel Membership Custom Emojis’ as future options available from the emoji sets. 

To use YouTube Emotes, you can click/tap on the smiley face icon in live chat or comments, which will then bring up a listing of all of the emotes and emojis available to you in that stream/thread.

On a tangent, you can also look forward to more ‘Super Thanks’ packages, potentially driving more revenue opportunities for creators, which also makes for another great way to interact within chat streams.

The Wrap

To close, YouTube’ also throwing in a few more additions toward expanding its comment warnings and user time-outs for repeated violations of comment rules, which it first launched in testing earlier this year. So, quite a bit of new stuff from YouTube, but all for the better. These additions could prove pivotal for your strategy over the holidays and heading into the early days of 2023.

Sources 

https://bit.ly/3VJzg7u