YouTube broadcasts stories to creators with more than 10,000 subscribers

Image: Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto via Getty Images

The battle between YouTube and Instagram continues.

In an announcement posted Thursday by YouTube, YouTube announced the extension of the deployment of the Stories feature to all creators of the platform, which has more than 10,000 subscribers.

The YouTube Stories feature is very similar to Stories on Instagram and Snapchat. Creators eligible for extended deployment can use Stories to add text, filters, stickers, music, and more. to their videos.

However, there are many areas in which YouTube stories differ from others. A big difference is the time it takes for them to go away. YouTube stories remain visible in the mobile app for seven days before disappearing. Stories on platforms like Snapchat and Instagram only last 24 hours after publication. Viewers can also leave comments on the version of YouTube Stories and creators have the opportunity to respond.

Stories appear on the YouTube mobile app and appear at the top of the screen when you tap the Subscriptions tab. If you do not subscribe to a specific channel, you can still view the stories of that channel in "Next" when you visit the channel page.

Image: Colin and Samir via Youtube

YouTube stories are exactly one year old. Before today, the video platform only allowed some creators to test the Stories feature, previously known as Reels. With the wider deployment, more and more YouTube users will certainly start noticing stories they have not already encountered. However, with a minimum of 10,000 subscribers needed to use Stories, YouTube still prevents many of its users from taking advantage of this feature.

As noted, YouTube Stories has created controversy within the platform community. Reddit users know if the Stories model really fits the YouTube platform. Well-known YouTube creators, such as Philip DeFranco, criticize how the YouTube version of Stories works.

While Snapchat is generally credited for creating the Stories concept, YouTube's latest initiative in creating its own version of the feature really has more to do with Facebook's Instagram account.

During the summer, its own standalone video platform called IGTV. The application targeted the creators and allowed them to share long-term video content. And Facebook itself has its own video service, Facebook Watch. The social network has recently introduced various video advertising options and encroaches on YouTube's territory.