Photo Credit: YouTube
YouTube is overhauling its design to give each of its formats a separate tab on channel pages. Shorts, long-form, and live videos are now separate.
This design splits YouTube content into three different categories that it offers. The changes allow users to access the type of content they want to watch–a common complaint with the introduction of YouTube Shorts. Now the ‘Videos’ tab is for long-form videos online, the ‘Shorts’ tab is for short videos, and ‘Live’ tab for past, current, and upcoming live streams.
The distinction has interrupted how long-form content works on the YouTube mobile app–which not everyone appreciates. Now YouTube has a dedicated place to give users a place to scroll through unlimited YouTube Shorts.
“Based on your feedback, we’re beginning to roll out separate tabs for Shorts, live streams, and long-form videos on all channel pages,” the feedback forum reads. “We’ve heard that this will make it easier for viewers to discover the kinds of content they’re most interested in when exploring a creator’s channel page, so we’re excited to bring this to you all.”
Moving forward, YouTube Shorts and live streams will no longer show up in the videos tab. YouTube says the update is rolling out today and may take a few weeks to reach everyone as the roll-out happens in phases. The proliferation of YouTube Shorts has gone better for Google than Instagram Reels has for Meta. While engagement is up across the board–most people seem to prefer TikTok or YouTube Shorts for their video content. Instagram has also alienated long-time users who primarily used the site to share photos.
YouTube also recently made a change to take channels back to the @username format. Usernames allow creators to identify their channel and interact with users across YouTube Shorts, channel pages, and more. The usernames are distinct, so you always know you’re interacting with the real channel owner rather than an imposter.