YouTube Shorts Algorithm Pivots to Original Content

YouTube has announced that the Shorts algorithm will soon be updated to prioritize original content further and reduce the reach of reuploaded content. For creators, YouTube says:

• Focus on originality: Channels identified as primarily aggregating or re-uploading other creators’ videos without significant changes will likely see less distribution within the Shorts feed. If you use clips from another creator, make sure you're adding real value through your own original commentary, unique edits, or storytelling.  
• Add your own unique perspective or take: Creative formats are a vibrant part of YouTube. Instead of making minor technical edits or template-based changes just to alter a video, bring your own voice, storytelling, or distinct point of view to the conversation.

Context:

YouTube Shorts suffer from the same problem every other Short-Form platform faces: waves of AI Slop, the clipping economy's mass posts, and other low-effort content that doesn't create value for people scrolling through the feed. In recent months, Twitter X has made similar efforts, Instagram made a change this summer, and TikTok has implemented AI to reduce low-effort content from monetization and discovery. The word 'reuploaded' is a broad brush, and as many have experienced on TikTok, it can often catch livestream clips repurposed for vertical short video as low-effort reuploads.

My Thoughts:

I talked a bit about this in July, but every platform will likely tighten the screws on slop content. By that I mean AI Slop, Mass Posting (the Clipping Economy, or anything asking your community to post on their own accounts), and Low-effort content (the way Twitch is building toward auto-clips that they encourage you to push to other platforms). So if you're just taking a clip from a Twitch stream without editing it or adding value, platforms will start punishing you for it. They all want you to record something specifically for the format.

The change is inevitable, and it will improve the quality of each platform's content. But it will assuredly suck for livesteamers who've been coached to basically just find the best moments of their stream to share on these platforms. So, Short Term: Use these systems! Long Term: This era is going away.

Check out the conversation about this on Twitter, Bluesky, or Threads.