5 things you need to know about revamped comments on YouTube
YouTube is known for drawing users who like to leave vile and mean comments on videos, but now, the Google-owned video service is rolling out changes that could help weed out such commentary.
So how exactly is YouTube changing the way users leave comments or read them? Here’s what you need to know.
Most recent comment no longer at topComments on YouTube can be tough to follow because they’re primarily displayed based on the time they were posted. The most recent comments fly up to the top. That means more interesting comments can easily be lost while nasty comments from others can stay at the top, as long as they were just posted.
“When it comes to the conversations happening on YouTube, recent does not necessarily mean relevant,” YouTube said in a blog announcing its changes.
Going forward, comments will no longer be displayed based on when they were posted, YouTube said.
See comments from those you care about
Instead, comments will now be displayed based on whether they may interest users.
Comments posted by the video creator, prominent personalities, and users who are in your Google+ circles will float to the top. Users also will see conversations with strong user engagement, so any interesting things strangers are saying will also be near the top of the comments you see.
Limit visibility of your comments
Users will also be able to select who they make their comments visible too. With this change, users can decide to make their comments public, visible to just the people in their Google+ circles or limited to just a couple of their friends.
This change may encourage more users to engage YouTube videos with comments.
New moderation tools
Video creators are also getting new tools to help them moderate the comments on their posts. With the changes, creators can now block comments with certain words from posting before first being reviewed. Additionally, creators will also be able to automatically approve or block comments from specific users.
Coming to all this year
YouTube said the changes to its comments section will begin rolling out “soon.” Users will start seeing the changes over the course of the coming months, and by the end of the year, the update will apply to all the videos on YouTube.
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