YouTube are putting even more emphasis on vertical content, with livestreams going upright for mobile viewers – but will fans want it?

YouTube are expanding vertical livestreams for creators and mobile viewers. The full-screen viewing experience will bring creators live and upright, with a scrollable live stream feed and fan funding features. They’ll be entering your Shorts feed soon.

The feature was first experimented with by YouTube last September. Now it is rolling out to further creators. YouTube Shorts creators with at least 50 subscribers on their channel can apply for verification to host vertical livestreams. This will help to give creators more chances to go live and connect their audience, even when they’re out and about with just their phone.

YouTube’s live product manager, Sherry Lin explained: “We wanted this combined feed. We wanted that to bring Shorts and live closer together… You can go to the Shorts feed, and as you’re swiping through the Shorts feed every so often you’re going to come across a live, and it’ll have a big grey button that says ‘watch live’. Tap that, you can get into the live feed.”

Will that appeal to viewers though? Or, are people watching their Shorts feed solely looking for the quick, casual entertainment that the sub-60 second videos offer.

It does however offer creators a new way to connect with fans and potentially reach new audiences from the feed. With fan-funding features, creators can earn extra revenue with ease – though their livestreams will not be supported by ad revenues. Viewers can take part in the chat with coloured bubbles, set at different prices as well as Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Memberships.

Qualifying creators can go live with a tap of the new ‘Live’ tab option and entering a title for the stream. Users are able to invite guests to join their livestream. Creators can also turn their livestreams into content after they’ve gone live, just like with landscape livestreams.

Sherry explains that vertical live is “now starting soon”, so get your seatbelts on for whenever that is!

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