YouTube has announced a new feature called “Communities” that aims to increase engagement on the video streaming platform. Once this feature is enabled, users will be able to post in YouTube communities and receive responses from other users. The company also said it is rolling out a new “Hype” button – a feature that has been in the works for more than a year – which will boost emerging creators on the platform by allowing more viewers to discover their channels through a platform-wide leaderboard that shows the most hyped videos on YouTube.
YouTube Community announced
The new YouTube Communities feature was announced Wednesday and will be gradually rolled out to some channels on the platform before being fully rolled out next year, according to the company. The feature adds the ability to interact with channel owners by posting in communities, and other users can also react and reply to posts.
YouTube Community to be widely available by 2025
Image source: YouTube
Until now, users have only been able to post comments within channels, forcing creators to turn to platforms like Facebook, Discord, or Telegram to interact with subscribers. A forum-like YouTube Communities feature could allow the service to keep users engaged on its platform.
The feature is not enabled by default, which means channel owners will need to enable it themselves. It’s also worth noting that channel owners will need to moderate inappropriate content in their communities through the new Community Center tool.
YouTube Hype Button: How It Works
YouTube explains that the new “Hype” button is designed specifically for emerging creators, who sometimes find it difficult to attract new viewers even if they have a loyal fan base. If a channel has fewer than 500,000 subscribers, viewers will be able to “Hype” it, which is more influential than sharing a video or liking it on YouTube.
YouTube said that when viewers click the new button, the video’s popularity will increase and it will begin to rise on a chart showing the week’s most popular videos. Users can check the latest charts to see which channels are the most popular.
The new feature is a bit complicated, however — you can only hype videos from channels with fewer than 500,000 followers within seven days of posting them. Viewers can hype videos three times per week, but the company is considering making additional hype available for purchase to help creators monetize their content.
The platform said that creators with lower subscription points will receive a “small creator reward,” which is essentially a score multiplier, to make the leaderboard a level playing field. Interestingly, YouTube said that hype videos will not affect search results and video recommendations on the platform.
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