In a nutshell
Shorts are YouTube's short vertical or square videos of up to 3 minutes. In the YouTube app you watch them on a dedicated screen by swiping vertically, and they are recommended in a separate feed from regular videos.
How they differ from regular videos
YouTube's Help explains that videos up to 3 minutes that are vertical or square are treated as Shorts (About YouTube Shorts, as of October 2026).
| Shorts | Regular videos | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Up to 3 minutes | Longer ones allowed |
| Orientation | Vertical or square | Mostly horizontal |
| How people watch | Swiping one after another | Choosing what to watch |
It is easier to split their roles if you think of it this way: regular videos get found through search and related videos, and Shorts get found in the swipe feed. The basic approach is to build a path that takes people interested through a Short to your longer videos and channel.
For shops and small businesses, the advantage is that it is easier to start than making long videos. A 30-second view of your work shot on a smartphone, or one scene showing how to use a product, makes a video. As you keep going, you learn which scenes get watched most, which also helps you choose topics when you make longer videos.
How to approach making them
Make clear what the video is about in the first few seconds, make the key points understandable without sound, and focus each video on one topic. These three are the same as for Instagram Reels and TikTok. Many people post the same vertical footage to each network, and the details are in How to start with short videos and The basics of YouTube Shorts.
In SNS TOWN
SNS TOWN has a setup that publishes one video to YouTube as a Short, with a title (up to 100 characters) and a visibility setting. However, until YouTube's review is finished, connecting an account is marked as in development and can't be pressed. Check the current status on the YouTube Shorts page.
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