YouTube Unveils Reels, a Stories Format for its Creators
YouTube is the latest site to copy Snapchat's Stories feature, the company announced in a blog post. Called Reels, the format is now available in beta in the Community tab, which is open to popular creators. With Reels, creators can communicate with fans by shooting short impromptu videos that won't automatically expire. Creators can link to their other YouTube videos and enhance their work with stickers. Judging by the post, Reels is a mobile-only tool designed for vertical layouts.
Reels can be up to 30 seconds long, and creators can add filters and music tracks to their work.
In the blog post, Roy Livne, senior product manager at YouTube, announced other enhancements to the site's Community area, which is now open to creators with over 10,000 subscribers. Creators use community to connect with fans and build anticipation for upcoming videos. Fans can now see Community posts in their home feeds, even if they aren't subscribed to the creator's channel. Fan can also now get notification of new posts.
The Community tab launched in beta in September 2016, for use by top creators. They use the area to share photos, poll fans, and post GIFs. Community is designed to make YouTube more social, and reduce the need for creators to turn to other social networks to communicate with fans.
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