The truth about YouTube Shorts...and why I deleted mine

In this video, I'll talk about what convinced me to delete all my YouTube shorts.

Videos mentioned in this video

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[justinuriahphoto]

Shorts blew up my channel. In one year I gained 250k subscribers. All from shorts. We average around 12k subs a month now and 5 to 7 million views per month. I have way too many brands and sponsors reaching out than what I can deal with at this point. I need to hire an army to keep up with paid sponsorships. 👍🏻

[HomeRapidRepair]

I pretty much stopped posting Shorts…now my channel is growing very consistently and making money $$$

[Jillian.Harrington]

I also took down my shorts because I was afraid it was hurting my channel. I don't like watching shorts and didn't like making them, but did it (by taking clips of my long form content) because I thought it would help my channel grow. Then I realized since I didn't like them, I probably wasn't doing them well. Which would mean my engagement on my shorts wasn't always great. I was worried that the poor engagement would impact how the algorithm perceived all of my content. I'm not completely sure if that was true, but I can say that I have felt relieved since I took them down.

[kristinetling]

This is just my personal opinion but I believe depending on what the content is I enjoy shorts very much. Now if you're watching something of the sorts, like a documentary, of course you're going to be invested and you'll want to watch a full documentary in comparison to maybe a little video that you just needed to lift your spirits or brighten your day. That's when the shorts come in handy for me or a little DIY video etc. Content makes all the difference for me. Depending on if I'm going to invest my time in watching a full-blown YouTube video or a short, I like them all. Thank you for sharing your information And continued success to you with all of your videos whether they're shorts or beyond!

[glitterandnaps]

My spouse loves watching them, but as a viewer I find them annoying - they interrupt my main page suggestions. I wish I could toggle them off.

[FurgottenWolf]

But... But... But...my stupid nonsensical shorts less than 30 seconds actually get way more views than any of my long form videos that I actually script out and spend a lot of time on. Yet a dumb 19 second short gets hundreds and hundreds of views and even more likes than my other stuff. OK, so, I don't care about that TOO much but the fact that they do so much better than my long form content does make me want to make more stupid shorts. This is how society ends, isn't it?

[Joblizz]

I'm so glad you said this! I felt under pressure to do shorts and I really don't enjoy it and don't get me started on Tik Tok 🤦🏼‍♀️ I'm sticking to my long form and will no longer feel guilty about it thanks to you 😁

[JessicaRocks]

I think this is a good example of using your data to make a decision. I actually like shorts, and my graph of what my audience is watching is a little more balanced across long/short/live. I gave up on TikTok, too, just because I couldn't keep up, even though I was reusing shorts/IG Reels/FB Reels. My audience skews to an older demographic that I think is more on the other two.

[okuryazarkeci]

I just deleted the shorts on my channel, upon watching your video Kevin. Such a relief. I tried them just for the sake of trying actually, because it "seemed" like a "must", and got way more views than the long videos. Still, I didn't like them or didn't find them especially useful or necessary. Thanks for sharing your experiences in such a sincere way.

[learningstuff]

Thank u for dispelling the BS! I was always reluctant about shorts but couldn’t really put it in words

[shelleyt]

As a viewer I detest shorts and it was especially annoying when there was no way to get back to the YouTube home channel to look at more of that creator’s videos. I don’t like the whole shorts thing where you get a piece of the video content and not the whole context or the whole information. I would be quite happy to never see another short again. Just show me the whole video in my feed.

[emmahillstv]

Thanks for the information you shared with evidence to why you decide not to relying on shorts yet others are focusing on them I understand why because all you have said I watched to end to understand because your logic is different from other big YouTubers I'm surprised ❤

[joyfultrails]

"Amen" to everything you said here. That's been my experience as well.

[geoffarcuri]

I started uploading a short, made from a clip of every video I made, hoping if the short got a ton of views, and would help the long form. It did not work out that way. I feel like there are shorts viewers and there are long form viewers. I don’t mind viewing shorts but have no valid reason to continue making them. Thanks as always for the video Kevin.

[mr_shanes]

Yes they will convert.. the problem is that's it's so new that it appears to not be working. IMHO as a viewer Shorts are a great way to redirect users to the long form. I think that's the best use of it for YouTube...
If I see a short with a related link then I will watch both.. but no related link I will keep scrolling.
You if for the power it gives you.

[GrantSR]

I hate Shorts too. But mostly because of the interface around them. It's as if YouTube is experimenting with the worst possible user interface for consuming media. OR.... They are trying to force us to only use the "Swipe Up" interface.

But I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT accept YouTube (or anyone but my own corrupted brain cells) deciding what video I watch next.

[AgingOnYourTerms]

I agree. I tried using Shorts to drive viewers to my long foemrm videos and it did not work for my channel. Instead, they were shown to the opposite demographic from the related long form video, snd they HATED them.

[nebulabass]

My shorts get more views than my long videos. They also got me a lot of subscribers. I will keep posting both formats.

[DavesHikesNewMexico]

Thanks Kevin! I needed to hear this. I been wondering if to do shorts, but i mostly do longer contents. My stuff is boring! all about hikes and exploring areas. this is what i love to do and have way too many videos since i hike 3 to 4 times per week after retirement.

[FeelingMoreMusic]

I don't like shorts either and I'm not watching them... I agree Kevin what you are saying...