YouTube is constantly rejuvenating itself with new features, several of which can be found undergoing testing at any given time. Its latest experiment lets content creators upload videos from different camera angles so that their viewers can switch between them on the fly during video playback.
As of press time, these multi-angle video uploads are the preserve of one Marilyn Bailey—a Boyceville, Wisconsin-based singer and YouTube celebrity—and even her nearly two-million-subscriber-strong YouTube channel only boasts a grand total of one such video. The nearly 6-minute long clip of Bailey’s live performance at last year’s YouTube Music Night features four different camera angles, which the user can toggle by clicking on the interactive thumbnails that appear to the right of the video.
The good news for the rest of the YouTube creator fraternity is that Bailey’s monopoly over this exciting feature is set to end very soon, as the site is now soliciting applications from those interested in testing it out on their own channel. The bad news for YouTubers based outside the U.S., however, is that the experiment is currently off limits to them.
Why this matters: Until recently, YouTube’s status as the one-stop shop for all kinds of user-generated online video content (especially short-form videos) was largely unchallenged. But this is no longer the case. Social-networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are rapidly encroaching on YouTube’s turf, and steadily eating into its share of the online video market. This leaves YouTube with no choice but to constantly innovate in order to stand out from the competition.
With new additions like this one, or the 360-degree interactive video feature that it is currently working, on, the site is doing just that; giving both content creators and viewers ample reasons to stick with it.