There is no doubt of the success of the popular Stories format that was introduced by Snapchat. This format was then picked up by other dominant social media players including Instagram, Facebook and Skype. Now YouTube is getting in on the action.

YouTube has recently announced its own take on the format with Reels. This is not a direct copy of Stories, but more of a bit of inspiration. Reels will not be displayed at the top of the app, like all the other versions of Stories. It will be placed in a new tab section of a creator’s channel.

As it is still very early stages, YouTube will be testing Reels with a few creators to get their feedback and put together some further testing. YouTube wants to ensure this new feature is done right and it gives users exactly what they want. Therefore they will ensure the feature is properly developed before allowing access to the masses.

The way YouTube hopes Reels will work is that it will introduce a completely new format for videos and it will allow creators to engage with their fans as well as express themselves without the need to upload a proper video.

Creators can make new Reels videos fast and easy. They can also add music, text, filters and stickers to create their own personal touch on the maximum 30 second video. This sure does sound a lot like Stories doesn’t it? Well, unlike Stories, creators on YouTube can produce Reels that don’t expire.

As well as this, Reels will be in a separate tab and users will have to go actively searching to find the Reels. YouTube has explained that if a certain user engages with Reels, this sends the message that they would like to see more and therefore could result in the appearance of Reels on the user’s homepage as a recommendation.

It is still unknown as to when Reels will arrive for testing on certain creators channels or when it will be available for all users to access. But one thing is for sure, YouTube will take their time to get this new feature right, in order to keep users happy.