- YouTube has confirmed that it is shutting down Stories towards the end of next month.
- From 26th June 2023 Stories will no longer be available to users.
- Any content posted on the 26th June will expire seven days after posting, YouTube confirmed.
Launched by YouTube in 2017, the platform’s Stories feature is coming to an end. For those less familiar with the feature, it was designed for creators to post time-sensitive content that would later expire from view.
It is something that other platforms have made core to its experience, such as Snapchat, but for YouTube, it looks like Stories is one of its less popular methods of sharing content, which is why it will no longer be available to users from 26th June 2023 onwards.
“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,” confirmed YouTube in a blog post.
“Starting on 6/26/2023 the option to create a new YouTube Story will no longer be available. Stories that are already live on that date will expire 7 days after they were originally shared,” it added.
With Stories shuttering, YouTube is directing creators to two other avenues – Community posts and Shorts.
“While Stories are going away, we’ve seen that both Community posts and YouTube Shorts are great alternatives that can deliver valuable audience connections and conversations,” the platform explained.
It also looks like those two alternatives are set to receive new features during the course of the year, pointing to YouTube’s shift in focus.
“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. We look forward to seeing what you create with all of these formats – Community posts, Shorts, live streams, and long-form content,” it concluded.
Having launched in 2017 under the original name of Reels, Stories were certainly useful for creators wanting to share content in a different way, but given the proliferation of Shorts, not to mention the desire to keep viewers on the platform, as well as returning to legacy content, perhaps it was never destined to thrive?
Either way you have a month to enjoy what’s left of it.
[Image – Photo by Eyestetix Studio on Unsplash]
