YouTube officially launches its own TikTok competitor

American online video-sharing platform YouTube has announced that it will launching a new video sharing platform called YouTube Shorts.

According to a blogpost shared by YouTube, "Shorts is a new short-form video experience for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones."

YouTube Shorts is a short-format video feature that lives right within the main app. The platform will allow users to upload 15-second or less short-form videos using a new set of creator tools, including a multi-segment camera, similar to TikTok, speed controls and a timer and a countdown feature.

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"This is an early version of the product, but we're releasing it now to bring you — our global community of users, creators and artists — on our journey with us as we build and improve Shorts," YouTube said in a statement.

According to YouTube, every month 2 billion viewers visit YouTube, with several creators who have built their entire businesses on the video-sharing platform.

"We want to enable the next generation of mobile creators to also grow a community on YouTube with Shorts. It will have a multi-segment camera to string multiple video clips together as well as the option to record with music from a large library of songs that will continue to grow. It will also have speed controls that will give the user flexibility to be creative with their performance and a timer and countdown to easily record hands-free," the blogpost said.

(With inputs from agencies)