Sean Walsh
Sean is a Director at Intelligency heading up our digital marketing and client services operations. Sean has 15+ years experiencing working both in-house and agency with brands including Lloyds, Alstom, Hitachi, Lufthansa, Viaplay, DFDS Seaways and Mercedes-Benz.
What is YouTube Collaborate?
YouTube’s collaboration tool allows users to duet shorts from other creators on the platform, the feature has the same functionality as the TikTok stitch feature. The feature enables users to record videos with a split screen which displays both the newly recorded video and the original short. The feature has been released to both iOS and Android users.
The collaboration tool now provides YouTube creators with the opportunity to produce short-form content like those on TikTok. This creates space for creators to reach audiences that prefer short-form content whilst staying on YouTube’s platform. Initially, TikTok offered the function, but YouTube did not, creating a clear disparity between the two platforms.
YouTube has previously stipulated regarding copyright that ‘fair content use’ required users to use clipped footage of the original content, lasting no longer than 30 seconds per clip. And the content being made needed to be educational or for commentary purposes. Inappropriate or offensive content is not tolerated and can lead to creators acquiring copyright strikes or in some cases, account bans.
How to use YouTube Collaborate?
Utilising the Collaborate tool is quite simple, just use the following steps to navigate:
- Select the watch page for the short you would like to collaborate on.
- Press the ‘remix’ icon and then click ‘collab’.
- You can select as much as 60 seconds of the short you would like to duet.
- Pick a layout, there are plenty of options to cater to stylistic preferences.
- Record. Your video will be recorded whilst the original short plays simultaneously.
The benefits of the collaboration tool on YouTube?
Creators have a fair chance to reach a wider audience by collaborating with other creators’ videos. This will enable content producers to create short-form reactive/ collaborative videos without needing to orchestrate the production of a long-form video.
The ability to produce reactive content, commentaries and even repurpose existing content will give users the chance to utilise the platform’s features in ways they were previously unable to.
YouTube’s previous limitations to using other users’ YouTube content means the clips must be staggered and done with reasoning. Now creators will be able to react to longer clips in a shorter format, making the commentaries or working alongside other creators and their content far easier with fewer limitations.
YouTube provides a plethora of display choices allowing video creators to find a style which works best for their style. With options such as picture-in-picture, green screen effects and side-by-side layouts.
Lastly, the brands will now be able to use audience participation to their advantage within marketing campaigns. The integration of UGC within marketing campaigns will likely have a positive knock-on effect with audiences trusting personal customer experiences. While also decreasing the cost of campaigns, circumstantially because of the input of user content with their own.
We’d love to know if this is something you’ll be using or watching out for. For more information, YouTube has created a short to give a glimpse into using collaborate.
