Post · Phase 4 of 5

Shorts & Vertical Video

Shorts on YouTube and the wider vertical format. A different feed, different metrics and a different set of rules from long-form.

Category 10 of 16 in the creator glossary · 46 terms

A

Auto-reframeaka auto-crop, subject tracking crop, speaker trackingSoftware that crops a horizontal edit down to vertical and tracks the subject so nobody's head wanders out of frame.

C

Cannibalisationaka do Shorts hurt long-formThe worry that Shorts steal attention from your long-form work. It had a real cause, and YouTube changed the plumbing.CapCut templateaka editing templateA prebuilt CapCut edit, with its cuts, effects and timing already set, that other people load and drop their own clips into.Clipperaka clipping campaign, clip farming, clip accountSomeone who cuts a creator's long-form footage into vertical clips and posts them, often paid per thousand views.Collabaka Shorts Collab, side-by-side remixThe Shorts remix option that records you beside another video in a split frame, either playing together or one after the other.Cutaka Shorts Cut, sample a clipThe Shorts remix option that samples one to five seconds of another video, picture and sound together, into a Short you are making.

D

Dream Screenaka AI background for ShortsYouTube's generative AI tool inside the Shorts camera, producing AI backgrounds and standalone clips from a text prompt.Dream Trackaka AI soundtrack for ShortsYouTube's AI music tool for Shorts. Describe the sound you want and it generates a short original soundtrack for the clip.Duetaka TikTok DuetTikTok's side-by-side response format, where your recording plays next to someone else's video. The nearest thing to a Shorts Collab.

E

Edit into a Shortaka create a Short from a video, remix your own long-formYouTube's built-in tool for clipping a vertical Short straight out of one of your own long-form uploads.

F

For You Pageaka FYP, For You feedTikTok's main recommendation feed, assembled per viewer by interest rather than by who they follow. The reference point for the Shorts feed.

H

Hashtag challengeaka challenge trend, dance challengeA repeatable prompt that spreads through one shared hashtag and sound, inviting anybody to film their own version of the same idea.Hold rateaka retention rate (paid social)The share of people who got past the opening seconds of an ad and were still watching at a later checkpoint.

I

Infinite scrollaka endless feedThe feed design where the next item is always one swipe away, with no page break to stop on.

L

Letterboxingaka pillarboxing, black bars, blurred barsThe bars or blurred fill left over when footage of one shape is dropped into a frame of another, most often a horizontal clip inside a vertical Short.Lip sync videoaka lip syncingMiming to an existing audio clip. The format short-form video was built on, and still one of the quickest routes into a trend.

O

Original soundaka original audioAudio a creator recorded themselves rather than pulled from a library, and on Shorts a sound other people can reuse.

P

POV videoaka POV formatA short-form format staged as a scene the viewer is standing inside, almost always signposted by on-screen text beginning with POV.

Q

Qualified viewaka qualified viewsTikTok's payable view. It counts only when a real account watches more than five seconds, with paid and artificial views stripped out.

R

Reelsaka Instagram ReelsInstagram's vertical short-form format, with its own tab and a recommendation surface that reaches well past your existing followers.Related video linkaka Watch full video link, link a Short to a long-form videoA link attached to a Short that sends viewers to a chosen long-form video from your channel, shown under your handle in the player.Remixaka sampling, remix a videoBuilding a Short from part of someone else's YouTube video or Short, using its sound, a clip, green screen or a side-by-side collab.Remix permissionsaka allow remixing, sampling settingsThe Studio setting deciding whether other creators may sample your long-form video, in full or audio only, when making their own Shorts.Reply with a Shortaka video reply, comment reply ShortAnswering a viewer's comment by publishing a Short, with the comment itself shown on screen inside the video.

S

Scroll stopperaka stop the scroll, thumb stopperThe opening beat of a vertical video, built to interrupt the swipe before a viewer moves on to the next thing.Seamless loopaka perfect loop, loopable ShortA Short edited so its last frame flows straight into its first, which hides the automatic replay.Short-form videoaka short formThe umbrella term for vertical clips watched in a swipe feed, covering YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok.Shorts algorithmaka Shorts recommendation systemThe recommendation system deciding which Shorts appear in the vertical feed, running on different signals from the long-form one.Shorts cameraaka Create a Short, Shorts editorYouTube's in-app capture and editing tool for making Shorts, reached through the create button in the mobile app.Shorts eligibilityaka what counts as a Short, Shorts requirementsAn upload becomes a Short when it is square or taller and runs no longer than three minutes. YouTube decides automatically.Shorts hashtagaka #ShortsThe #Shorts tag added to titles and descriptions. A leftover from the early days, since classification no longer depends on it.Shorts length limitaka 3-minute Shorts, Shorts maximum length, 60-second limitThree minutes. A square or vertical video at or under that runtime, uploaded from 15 October 2024, is treated as a Short.Shorts templateaka Use this template, Shorts effect templateA reusable timing and layout preset lifted from an existing Short, so you drop your own clips into the same structure.Shorts thumbnailaka Shorts cover, cover frameThe still image chosen for a Short, seen on your channel grid, in search and on shelves, and never in the swipe feed.Shorts-to-long-form conversionaka Shorts funnel, Shorts to long-formTurning viewers who found you in the Shorts feed into people who watch your longer videos. Rarely automatic.Sludge contentaka split-screen filler, Subway Surfers content, slop stackVertical video pairing a narration or clip with unrelated gameplay or satisfying footage underneath, built to stop a thumb mid-swipe.Snapchat Spotlightaka SpotlightSnapchat's vertical short-video feed, ranked by recommendation rather than by who you follow, and a common third home for Shorts.Sound attributionaka Sound from, audio creditThe credit line on a remixed Short naming where its audio came from and linking back to the original that carried it.Split screenaka stacked frame, top and bottom splitDividing the vertical frame between two sources, most often a talking head above and the footage being discussed below.Stitchaka TikTok StitchTikTok's reply format: your video opens with up to five seconds of somebody else's, then cuts straight into your response.

T

Trial Reelsaka trial reelAn Instagram option to publish a Reel to non-followers only, see how strangers respond, then decide whether your followers ever see it.

V

Vertical microdramaaka micro-drama, short drama, vertical dramaSerialised scripted fiction shot vertically and cut into one to two minute episodes, dozens per season, each ending on a cliffhanger.Vertical videoaka portrait videoFootage framed taller than it is wide, usually 9:16, so it fills a phone screen held upright.

Y

YouTube Shortsaka ShortsYouTube's vertical short-form format and the swipe feed it plays in, covering uploads of up to three minutes.

#

4:5 aspect ratioaka four by five, portrait feed ratioThe tall in-feed ratio, 1080 by 1350 pixels, used for Instagram and Facebook posts when a full-height vertical clip will not fit.9:16 aspect ratioaka nine by sixteen, full verticalThe full-screen vertical frame used by Shorts, Reels and TikTok, nine units wide for every sixteen tall.