YouTube, an enduring ecosystem of long-form videos and a variety of video formats, is playing the long game with short-form video. After releasing Shorts several years ago, the platform remains committed to watching it grow and compete with other platforms leading the way.

Since its inception, the algorithm of YouTube Shorts has always been a bit shrouded in mystery. Even so, YouTube experts have left a few breadcrumbs here and there throughout the years. Most recently, the YouTube product lead for Shorts, Todd Sherman, produced a video going over several details with Shorts. The video is produced alongside Creator Insider, an informal YouTube channel that shares information from the platform’s technical team.

We’ll sum up what Sherman discussed, as well as other tidbits shared by other social media experts surrounding the ambiguity of YouTube Shorts. It is most certainly an enigma to many creatives and social media gurus.

YouTube Shorts’ algorithm is its own

Contrary to what you may think, YouTube Shorts’ algorithm is not connected to long-form video. Shorts and traditional YouTube videos operate on their own algorithms. This answered questions I had about my own Shorts’ feed. The content had nothing to do with the long-form videos and vlogs I have watched and saved. My Shorts’ feed is wild terrain waiting to be tamed by my preferences, once I spend more time there.

Unlike long-form videos, where users are selectively seeking out specific videos for their wants and needs, Shorts are not driven by a specific choice. Just like other vertical content, users on short-form video feeds do not know what comes next.

This means there’s an opportunity to define your Shorts’ space, untethered to your existing long-form content and its success. This could come in a variety of approaches. You can create a different channel dedicated to Shorts or create Shorts with its own flavor on your existing channel.

Lastly, YouTube experts say the separate algorithm means one doesn’t impact the other. In other words, engagement with Shorts doesn’t necessarily boost the ranking of long-form videos. However, Shorts can still serve as helpful supplements to your longer-form content.

To swipe or not to swipe

If users are skipping Shorts and not letting that content sink in, that will negatively impact its ranking power. Videos enticing users to watch the entire thing will amplify rank.

Shorts present a more diverse feed compared to long-form videos. Users are flipping through hundreds of videos with hundreds of topics. With that in mind, it’s crucial to have a hook as soon as possible. We wrote a blog on just this: how to grab attention within the first few seconds of a video. This is a general rule that is largely applicable to any social media platform. YouTube shorts will analyze what people are skipping and what they’re watching all the way through.

Watch history and engagement

There are two other areas that influence how Shorts are ranked and recommended to audiences: watch history and engagement with other accounts. 

Clips uploaded to YouTube Shorts are analyzed for their content, including title and tags. This process helps the algorithm match the video with audiences who have engaged with similar content in the past. This, along with whether or not audiences have engaged with you before, boosts the video’s recommendations for particular audiences.

Similar to TikTok, videos and platforms can easily go viral, even if their previous content has not done so before. YouTube Shorts videos themselves will often be boosted if they share similarities with other successful content. With this in mind, it’s good to allocate some time to observe what’s doing well in your niche for inspiration.

Does duration matter?

There are two key questions that are left vague by YouTube experts. Does the length of Shorts matter, and does the amount of time a user spends on Shorts impact a video’s success?

Each social media platform counts views in its own way. Some count views as soon as the video plays. Sherman says a view must reflect intent. In other words, there is a “meaningful threshold” that is set that indicates that someone intended to watch the video.

Unfortunately, YouTube fell short of publishing what this “view threshold” would be. Additionally, they did not provide a sweet spot for lengths of Shorts that are most beneficial. However, Sherman did emphasize keeping Shorts under 60 seconds to maintain its uniqueness from long-form videos. Overall, experts say it’s more important to think about the amount of time needed to get a story or moment across.

Is this the final nail in the coffin for long-form content?

As a creator who also values producing and consuming long-form content, the minimizing of space for those videos to thrive can be hard to accept. Fortunately, however, YouTube experts are exploring the possibility of connecting creators’ Shorts to their long-form videos this fall. This question was also addressed in the video we shared earlier with Sherman. YouTube is fleshing out an ecosystem for Shorts while maintaining its legacy in long-form video.

Finally, despite their separation, Sherman says the core goal for both Shorts and long-form, traditional YouTube content is to connect viewers with videos that are valuable to them. Yes, we wrote an entire blog about algorithms. But, it’s best to, first and foremost, think audience over algorithm. I know for me, in the end, it is always about serving and engaging our audiences, rather than outsmarting the algorithm.