YouTube is KILLING a popular feature next month – here’s what it means for you and your channel

It’s the go-to platform for watching videos, but if you use YouTube, prepare to see a popular feature disappear next month. 

The Google-owned platform has confirmed that it’s shutting down YouTube Stories in June.

Stories first launched in 2018, and allowed creators to post short, mobile-only videos that expired after seven days. 

YouTube claims the change is being made to prioritise other features on the platform. 

In a blog, it explained: ‘Today, there are many ways to create on YouTube – from Community posts to Shorts, to long-form and Live. To prioritize these key features, Stories are going away.’

The change will come into effect on 23 June, after which the option to create a new YouTube Story will no longer be available.

Any Stories that are already live will expire seven days after they were originally shared.  

If you regularly used YouTube Stories, YouTube advises you turn to either Community posts or YouTube Shorts. 

‘YouTube Community posts are a great choice if you want to share lightweight updates, start conversations, or promote your YouTube content to your audience,’ it explained. 

‘Amongst creators who use both posts and Stories, posts on average drive many times more comments and likes compared to Stories.’

While YouTube previously restricted access to Community posts to certain creators, it has recently expanded access to millions.

To create a Community post, sign in to YouTube, and select ‘Create post’ at the top of the page. 

In the box at the top, either type a message to create a text post, add text to an image, GIF or video post, or choose to create a video, poll or image. 

Once you’re happy with your creation, select Post. 

Alternatively, if you want to continue creating short videos, YouTube recommends using YouTube Shorts – a tool that allows you to record vertical videos directly from your smartphone. 

‘With new features for both Shorts and Community posts to be announced throughout the year, we are committed to investing in new and innovative tools to help you grow your audiences across YouTube,’ YouTube added. 

‘We look forward to seeing what you create with all of these formats – Community posts, Shorts, live streams, and long-form content!’