- YouTube is testing a new feature called "Shorts shelf" on desktop to promote Shorts.
- This is causing user experience debate as it disrupts the usual flow and some creators rely on long-form videos for revenue.
- Many users think YouTube Shorts should have its own app or website.
The Google-owned video giant, YouTube, has of late stepped up its tactics of popularizing YouTube Shorts among its users, one of its favorite and newest functionalities. Nevertheless, this apparent extra pushed a lot of users to the edge of the story on the next changes too because of the targeted user experience.
YouTube Shorts Now Focus on Desktop, Triggers User Experience Debate
First coming out in 2020 to challenge already popular social media platforms like TikTok, Shorts was very quickly noticed with exactly 70 billion daily views. The platform achieved this success the most through smartphones because it was more convenient for these phone users with the mobile vertical format thanks to the large display screens of desktops and laptops mainly covering the sky but less so the ground.
Even bearing in mind the genres of the media, YouTube is testing a new feature called the “Shorts shelf” in its web version, as well. This shelf, which is located diagonally on the right-hand side of the recommended videos section, has three Shorts in a preview format. However, while users can vertically scroll in search of more solutions, this interruption of the norm of the vertical flow of recommendations might be confusing.
For years now, YouTube has faced intensive critiques for many reasons. Firstly, the existence of the Shorts shelf already registers clutter on the computer screen, and also the fact that there is a dedicated Shorts section on the homepage. Beyond that, some people claim that YouTube is also causing viewers to wander off from other longer content which is a matter of primary concern for some YouTubers.
The placement of a creator’s Shorts on the shelf may initially seem an interesting idea, but as content creators mostly earn from sponsored videos and Advertisement revenue streams inside the long-form videos, it may seem a mess. Shorts, of course, are an exceptionally successful form of content, however, not all of them may also have similar financial benefits.
At this point, the exposure of the Shorts shelf is small: there are still some users who seem not to have experienced this change. By that, we can understand that there would be an A/B testing period where YouTube would collect feedback from the users before the wider release.
Lots of people think that YouTube should separate Shorts into its app or microsite to allow the two formats, Shorts and long-form videos, to develop and thrive without interfering or competing for users’ attention and retention at all.
Given this, YouTube partially understands why they want to promote Shorts, but the current implementation feels clumsy. Whether this is just a trial or a long-term adoption is still open to question. However, as one can see, the question of how to promote this type of content without affecting the experience of users of long-form content remains.
