YouTube’s $100 million Shorts Fund launches this month.
YouTube Shorts creators can now earn up to $10,000 per month for making viral Shorts.
This is big news from YouTube, as this will now further strengthen the platform’s position in the online video world, where it once lead and remained dominant.
Now, with its short-form content creation feature YouTube Shorts, YouTube is back to reclaim its glory.
However, the new YouTube Shorts monetization might put TikTok under pressure.
TikTok now tries to compete with YouTube, but without any monetization model.
Can it be sustainable?
The short answer is No.
Because TikTok already has a smaller user base compared to YouTube (although it is growing) it will be difficult for it to compete with YouTube.
TikTok’s User Base Will Be Affected by the YouTube Shorts
As of June 2021, YouTube has over 2.3 billion monthly active users and 122 million daily active users with an average of 18 minutes of daily watch-time, while TikTok just had 1 billion monthly active users as of June 2021.
Users might now shift to YouTube because of its new monetization model.
If users shift, then TikTok’s user base will further decline and it might be difficult for it to compete with YouTube ad revenues.
The Competition Spice Up by the YouTube Shorts
YouTube is already a leader in online videos, but with their new short-form content creation feature YouTube Shorts, they now have another way to further stay competitive.
YouTube Shorts is a feature within the app for iOS and Android, it allows users to create their content in short-form videos (15 seconds to 60 seconds).
This means that apart from uploading long-form they are now also up against TikTok, as both of them have similar features.
But TikTok creators earn nothing from their videos, while YouTube creators might now get paid for their short-form content.
It will be an interesting battle to look out for if the new YouTube Shorts platform was able to affect the growth of TikTok.
The New YouTube Shorts Platform Might Threaten TikTok
It is a big deal for YouTube to launch its new short-form content creation platform while making it monetizable.
The new feature also puts TikTok under pressure because of its lack of any monetization model.
But there is a small catch.
The YouTube Shorts creators can earn up to $10,000 per month ONLY if their Shorts rise to the top of the heap of the most-viral clips.
So the monetization will only benefit a few numbers of YouTube Shorts creators.
Will it be enough to shake TikTok?
It is still unclear, but we will wait and see if the new feature can affect the growth of TikTok.
I think this need not worry a true TikToker because they do what they do best, and that is based on their ability to do something different and exciting.
Monetization might be a problem for an established YouTube Channel to make money through short videos,
But it is not for TikTok because they are not trying to build up that kind of business.
There are other positives that TikTok has over YouTube Shorts
And that is simplicity.
No need to have a recording studio to make TikTok videos, and no need for lots of editing tools and other apps like Premiere Pro or Final Cut.
They can just shoot it on their smartphones and share it with the world without all the fuss.
So as long as they do not mess up anything about what made them popular and successful, then they will still be the leader.
TikTok is not likely to succumb to YouTube simply because it did not make a big deal about short-form content creation but they are doing it.
There is no need for them to go down that path when there are so many other things that could be done on their platform and the community is waiting for such new features to come on board.
So a word of caution – do not be all caught up by what other platforms are doing.
Stay true to your uniqueness, you have something special that might just change the world now and in the future.
Additional useful information:
YouTube has announced that videos created as part of their new YouTube Shorts program will not receive payments if reuploads and videos tagged with watermarks are submitted.
The YouTube Shorts monetization feature is only available in 10 regions at this time.
The payment list includes the United States, United Kingdom, India, and Brazil among others. YouTube plans to expand to those countries at a future date.
Related Post: 8 Free AI Tools for YouTube Videos
Ali is a digital marketing blogger and author who uses the power of words to inspire and impact others. He has written for leading publications like Business2Community, Inc. Magazine, and Marketing Profs. When not writing, he enjoys spending time with his family.