Nation

YouTube takes on TikTok with short-form video service in U.S

By Tanvi Sabharwal

Alphabet Inc’s YouTube is expanding its platform in the United States by rolling out a short-form video-streaming service as it plans to compete with rival TikTok in the wildly popular category.

The service, Shorts, lets users record mobile-friendly vertical videos that can be spiced up with special effects and soundtracks pulled from a music library.

In a blog post on Thursday, YouTube stated, “Starting today and over the next several weeks, we’ll gradually expand our Shorts beta to the U.S.,” adding that it would weave in newer features in the service, like the ability to add text at specific points of the video.

Shorts was rolled out in India in September last year following the ban on TikTok. It currently records more than 6.5 billion daily views globally, YouTube said.

Tags: TikTok YouTube

Tanvi Sabharwal

Tanvi Sabharwal is a graduate in Economics with experience in marketing and strategy. A media enthusiast, she has a deep-rooted interest in social policy and development. Tanvi is currently working as a Business and Current Affairs reporter at USAnewshour.com and can be reached at tanvi.sabharwal21@gmail.com