YouTube Takes on TikTok With New Tools: ‘You Can Build a Business’

YouTube is the real money maker for creator Erika Kullberg when she compares it to other platforms. Kullberg, who has over 21 million followers across social media, has made more than $353,000 in five years through YouTube — compared to $5,756 on TikTok and $20,251 on Facebook.

^{Credit: Erika Kullberg}

Now, with a TikTok ban possibly on the horizon, YouTube is giving new tools to seasoned YouTubers like Kullberg, while trying to draw more short-form video creators to Shorts, with new features.

YouTube announced on Thursday that Shorts will now have a Text to Speech function with four in-built voices. So if a creator has written text on their Shorts video, they can have that text narrated for listeners.

The new “Add yours” sticker means that a creator can now post a video of their day with the sticker. Viewers can then click on the sticker and post content of their own related to the video, creating more opportunities for creators and viewers to virtually interact.

YouTube is also extending auto layout, a feature that takes longer YouTube videos, finds the main subject of them, and automatically zooms and crops to create custom Shorts, to Android.

“We have 70 billion daily views right now,” YouTube Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich said in an update video, adding that YouTube Shorts “is a platform that’s growing” and that “you can build a business through Shorts.”

YouTube publicized the same 70 billion daily views number for Shorts in September, writing at the time that the views came from over two billion signed-in users.

Though YouTube Shorts has a similar format to TikTok, social media users still spend more time on TikTok. As of Q4 2023, U.S. adults spent 53.8 minutes on TikTok every day on average.

They spent 48.7 minutes on YouTube in comparison.

YouTube Shorts and TikTok videos are usually short, with YouTube Shorts capped at a minute. TikTok allows for longer videos up to 30 minutes; some longer TikToks have gone viral.

Despite the generally bite-sized length of videos on YouTube Shorts and TikTok, users still spend more time on those two platforms than they do on other social media sites.

Related: ‘Pay Off My Debt’ TikToker Explains How Much Money He Made from His Viral Video and the Inspiration for the Trend https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/youtube-updates-shorts-wants-creators-to-build-a-business/476974