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YouTube has added some new features focused on increased user engagement and a way to work with emerging creators.
Among these are YouTube Communities, allowing users to post and comment within certain community spaces on a channel, and a 'Hype' button intended for smaller creators to share their content across YouTube and on other social platforms.
YouTube Communities will be able to give users direct interaction with the creators and other subscribers using posts, comments, and also using reactions much like any social media platform. Up till now, one had the option of commenting on videos, and when one wanted more extensive action, it was on platforms such as Facebook, Discord, or Telegram. The feature solves the problem by keeping all the interactions within YouTube itself.
It will have to be switched on manually by creators, but eventually, it will be rolled out to selected channels and available to all creators in 2025. Similarly, channel owners will have to establish community moderation through a new Community Hub tool that helps to filter content accordingly.
Another new tool is the "Hype" button targeting the support of smaller creators with fewer than 500,000 subscribers in their quest to reach a more considerable audience. When viewers "hype" a video, it will ascend a leaderboard showing the most-hyped videos on YouTube.
Unlike shares or likes, hyping the video has a direct impact on its reach and the leaderboard that will come at the end will show the most-hyped videos of the week for fresh and upcoming talent to be discovered.
However, the feature comes with certain limitations. A viewer can hype videos coming from channels with fewer than 500,000 subscribers and hype a video within seven days of its publication. Users are permitted to hype three videos per week, and the company considers additional hype purchases in the future as part of its monetization strategy for creators.
YouTube has also adopted something they call a "small creator bonus," a scoring multiplier that gives lessor channels a fighting chance on at least even playing fields. Once you understand this, note well that hyping a video will not affect YouTube's search results or video recommendations either.
Such new features given by YouTube, as it grows, further add proof to its attempt to continually nurture smaller creators and keep the audiences fully engaged. With the Communities feature that propels more interaction and the Hype button that helps the creators gain more visibility, YouTube is shaping into a more dynamic place for both its users and content creators. Creators can also use YouTube Premium to boost their channel’s success further.
Thus, communities, the feature expected to roll out next year, and the Hype button, which is now live will shape how creators and viewers interact from today.
