What Are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube's short, vertical video format, watched in a swipeable, mobile-first feed.
What it means
Shorts are YouTube's vertical, short-form videos, shown in their own dedicated feed that viewers swipe through much like a short-video app. They live on the same channel as regular videos but are counted and recommended differently.
Why it matters
Shorts often reach a very different audience than a channel's long-form videos — frequently newer, younger viewers who never intended to visit a specific channel — so Shorts performance and long-form performance should not be judged by the same yardstick.
ask datanephew
Are my Shorts actually growing my channel, or just getting views that go nowhere?
Ask datanephew to check whether Shorts viewers are converting into subscribers or returning to watch long-form videos — that is the real test of whether Shorts are helping the channel overall.
How are my Shorts doing compared to my regular videos?
Ask datanephew to compare views, retention, and engagement between your Shorts and long-form uploads over the same period.