YouTube is cleaning up one of the worst parts of Shorts

YouTube Shorts have never exactly been a fan-favorite feature. From users wanting Shorts to be a standalone app, to YouTube itself letting users set their daily Shorts feed limit to zero, there’s no shortage of signs pointing to how unhappy many users are with how aggressively short-form video has been pushed across the platform. One of the big reasons behind the disdain is the sheer amount of slop that floods the Shorts feed. YouTube knows that, and it is now starting to prioritize original content on Shorts.

Announced by the streaming giant in a blog post this week, YouTube is updating its recommendation system specific to Shorts to reduce the reach of re-uploaded content, where videos taken from other creators are reposted without adding anything meaningful.

Think: accounts that clip and post a funny moment from someone else’s livestream, or channels that grab short segments from popular original videos by big creators like MrBeast, and repost them with little to no changes. Those kinds of Shorts will still be allowed on YouTube — they just won’t show up for you as often. That should be especially useful considering YouTube has been experimenting with opening the app directly into the Shorts feed for some users.

“This update to our recommendation systems delivers a better experience for viewers while ensuring creators publishing original content have the best chance to grow and succeed,” wrote YouTube.

Add value if you must re-upload content

This, however, doesn’t mean that aggregating content is bound to fail on YouTube. The company made it clear that it’s looking for Shorts creators to add something meaningful to the content they borrow. This could include original commentary, unique edits, or storytelling that offers more context for a clip. This does not include “minor technical edits or template-based changes simply to alter a video.”

For creators, this likely doesn’t mean less visibility for your own Shorts. If you’re a long-form creator who makes short-form clips to promote your videos, your reach shouldn’t be affected. In YouTube’s own words, this applies to those re-uploading “other creators’ videos.”

For viewers like us, the benefits are pretty straightforward. On paper, the change should make our Shorts feeds a lot more original and less repetitive. Shorts recommended by YouTube’s algorithm should also feel more worthwhile. Whether the change is enough to change the negative reputation Shorts has developed remains to be seen.