Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL online video-sharing platform, YouTube announced its decision to bid adieu to the Stories feature on June 26, signaling a shift in its focus toward alternative avenues of content creation.
What Happened: YouTube is discontinuing ‘YouTube Stories,' its Snapchat clone. Originally introduced in 2017 as ‘Reels,' it was subsequently rebranded as ‘YouTube Stories' in 2018.
Stories provided YouTube creators with more than 10,000 subscribers the opportunity to share temporary posts. These posts, just like Snapchat, would automatically vanish after a span of seven days.
Beginning June 26, users will not be able to create YouTube Stories. Any existing stories created before that date will follow their usual expiry pattern — vanishing after seven days from their creation. Consequently, beginning the subsequent Monday, July 3, no YouTube Stories will be accessible for viewing either.
Unlike the Stories features on Instagram and Snapchat, YouTube Stories failed to gain significant traction. The limited access and lack of promotion contributed to its underutilization.
Why It Matters: The decision to discontinue the feature comes as YouTube aims to shift focus toward other avenues for content creation and engagement within the platform, such as Community Posts and Shorts.
Community Posts have been expanded to provide text-based updates, along with the ability to share polls, quizzes, images, and videos. By encouraging creators to use Community Posts, YouTube offers a viable alternative for engaging with their audience and promoting their content.
YouTube is also placing greater emphasis on Shorts, its answer to the rising popularity of short-form videos. Shorts closely resembles Stories in terms of functionality. But unlike Stories, Shorts boasts longevity, as it does not come with an automatic expiration feature.
By sharing ad revenue with creators through a revamped monetization plan, YouTube aims to incentivize the creation of shorter, easily digestible content. This strategic move aligns with the evolving preferences of viewers and positions YouTube as a competitor in the short-form video space.
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