YouTube is a giant when it comes to video content, but it’s been lacking in one key area—direct interaction between creators and their fans. While the platform’s comment section allows for some engagement, many creators still turn to other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Discord to connect with their followers.
This is a concern for YouTube, as keeping users on the platform is a top priority.
According to Whitney Taylor, Head of Design for YouTube Community, they’ve noticed a demand for better ways to connect. “Creators, their content, and their communities are already on YouTube, so we have the potential to be the best place for deeper conversations too,” she said in a blog post.
To address this, YouTube is introducing a new feature called Communities. Similar to Discord, Communities will give creators and fans a space to engage with each other beyond the comment section. While the comment section is great for fans talking to each other, it doesn’t always foster direct interaction with the creator.
With Communities, creators can start their own space where fans can create posts related to the channel, and both fans and creators can respond. For instance, in a fitness community, members might share progress photos or personal stories. In a cooking channel, fans could post pictures of dishes they made using the creator’s recipes.
The biggest draw of Communities is that it allows fans to create their own posts, similar to popular social media platforms. Until now, YouTube’s interaction was limited to either posting videos (which takes effort) or leaving comments (which can feel limited).
Essentially, Communities turns each YouTube channel into a mini social network. It’s still early days, but it will be interesting to see how both creators and fans embrace this new feature.
