The decision to discontinue the function might have been influenced by the video streaming service's complete focus on 'Shorts' content.
Another YouTube feature that most of you probably weren't even aware existed is about to be discontinued. This week, YouTube officially announced that its 'Stories' feature would be discontinued on June 26—exactly one month from today.
The format of stories has gained a lot of traction on social media sites like Instagram and Snapchat, where it all began. Gradually, it has spread to WhatsApp and even Facebook. However, the Google-owned video streaming service has decided it is time to discontinue another product, Reels, which was released in 2017.
Google has a horrible tendency to eliminate things suddenly and without providing a justification. It is uncannily reminiscent of its parent company's strategies that YouTube decided to stop supporting stories. In either case, we don't believe that users would particularly miss Stories if YouTube stopped offering them.
What else does YouTube intend to emphasise in addition to regular videos? The platform appears to be mainly relying on the popularity of 'Shorts', which is also its take on reels and TikTok videos. With millions of views already, it is attempting to monetize the product by bringing on sponsors.
On desktop and mobile devices, the corporation already has a distinct area for shorts. It might soon introduce 'Shorts' to YouTube Music, which is currently under testing.
