YouTube Shorts vs. Community Posts: What Are the Differences?

YouTube used to just be a place for uploading videos. But now, there are several different ways you may share your opinions with the world and interact with your favorite creators. Two of the most popular ones are YouTube Shorts and Community posts. But what are the differences between the two?

What Are YouTube Shorts?

If you are familiar withhow TikTok works, then it is easy to understand what YouTube Shorts are. They are short (about 15 seconds), usually vertical videos you can watch on YouTube in a scroll feed style. This is almost exactly what TikTok is, and that is on purpose. Shorts were YouTube’s way of staying competitive with the fastest-growing short-form video app.

YouTube has always had short videos, but the formatting and viewing style of Shorts emulates TikTok or Instagram Reels much more. You can easily scroll from one to the next without much thought. Plus, they are formatted vertically to fit your phone screen, unlike the regular horizontal YouTube video format.

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There are manypros and cons to posting YouTube Shorts, so do some research before committing too much time to them, especially if you’re looking to grow your YouTube channel.

On the other hand, if you only want to watch cool new videos, YouTube Shorts is one of thebest TikTok alternativesyou can find.

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What Are YouTube Community Posts?

Community posts are another type of post you can make on YouTube. They are usually mostly text, but they can include images, GIFs, polls, quizzes (available only on Android), and even videos. They are a great way for channels to make announcements or say quick things to their subscribers.

If you want to make community posts, there are certain steps you must take on your account to be able to create Community posts listed on theYouTube Help site. On the other hand, you can go to your favorite creators' channels, hit theCommunitytab, and you’ll find all the posts they’ve made.

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Community posts add a more social media-like element to YouTube, where people can interact with posts instead of just watching videos. Many people questionwhether YouTube should be considered social media, but Community posts definitely give more social interaction similar to Twitter or Facebook.

YouTube Shorts vs. Community Posts: Main Differences Explained

Both types of posts on YouTube are designed to give you more options to interact with your favorite creators without waiting for a long-form video. There are key differences, though, between YouTube Shorts and Community posts.

The first difference is Shorts are just videos that you can access from theShortstab in the YouTube app. A Community post has much more flexibility. It can just be a few words, a picture, or even a poll. You can also combine the elements of a Community post to convey a message, like including a photo with a poll, for example.

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Another key difference is that anyone with a YouTube account can post Shorts, but not everyone can make Community Posts. You will have to authenticate your account to make Community Posts. This can take up to 48 hours to process.

There are also different reasons you may want to use Shorts or Community posts. Shorts are great for exploring different channels that you wouldn’t have time to watch with regular long-form videos.

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On the other hand, Community posts are better for engaging with YouTubers you already follow. You can answer their questions and provide helpful feedback to help them improve their content.

Lastly, if you’re a creator, Community posts are much easier to create than YouTube Shorts. you could type a few words and have a Community post in minutes. Recording and possibly editing a Short, then uploading it, may take more time.

Which Type of YouTube Post Should You Use?

Ultimately, it is best to use all YouTube has to offer to make different kinds of posts to interact with your favorite YouTubers in different ways. Whether it’s Shorts, Community posts, or long-form videos, you can use everything YouTube has to offer to make the most out of the platform.

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