Google-owned YouTube is getting in on the Stories game that was started by Snapchat and adopted by Facebook, Instagram, and more. However, this won’t be your typical stories clone – it will be entirely unique to YouTube and will be called “Reels.”
The announcement was buried within a larger announcement to creators about expanding the Community tab to all creators with over 10,000 subscribers. Reels is entering beta and will be test by select users, but a few things are already known about it.
It won’t be intrusive or obvious like Stories in other apps – instead, Reels will reside in a separate tab on the creator’s channel, so users will have the choice of viewing them or not. Additionally, Reels can be made up to 30 seconds each, creators can make multiple Reels, and they won’t expire. YouTube is also introducing the ability to add filters, music, text, and “YouTube-y” stickers to the snippets.
YouTube did not say when Reels will arrive in beta, how long until it’s publicly available, or which creators will receive the format first.
via Tech Crunch