YouTube has enhanced its comments section with new features which promise to make it easier for creators to build a community and show extra love to their die-hard fans.
Now, it’s possible to “pin” comments to the top of a thread. This can be used by creators to highlight comments they feel are especially insightful or funny.
While YouTube – like Twitter – only supports one pinned message at a time, it’s possible to for creators to show their appreciation to other commenters by “hearting” them.
And now, when channel owners leave a comment, it’s more visible who it’s from. These have the owner’s username appear under the text, highlighted with a splash of color so viewers know who wrote it.
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If the channel owner is verified, it will also display a checkmark.
This is the latest in many moves by YouTube to raise the standard of its comments sections, which have long been regarded as chaotic and difficult to manage.
Earlier this year, it introduced moderators. This allows channel owners to delete the task of comment moderation to other members of the YouTube community they trust.
YouTube has also added the ability for content creators to blacklist specific words and phrases. And in the coming months, it will allow channel owners to hold potentially inappropriate comments for review.
These opt-in feature will algorithmically identify abusive or inappropriate comments, and prevent them from being displayed under videos. Channel owners will then have the choice to approve, hide, or report them.
These are small changes, but a step in the right direction to make Youtube a safe, welcoming platform for all.
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