YouTube, the popular video-sharing platform owned by Google, is taking steps to enhance its user experience by testing new features for both creators and viewers. The platform has begun experimenting with Q&A stickers specifically designed for Shorts on mobile devices.
According to the YouTube test features and experiments page, creators now have the opportunity to engage with their audience more effectively by posing questions using customisable stickers. Viewers can respond to these queries through comments. Notably, audience responses will be visible to others reading the comments on the Short where the sticker was used. This feature is currently being introduced gradually to a select group of creators.
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Although the Q&A stickers will be visible to viewers across all devices, they won't be interactive on desktop computers or TVs. The platform had previously announced this feature for Shorts earlier in the month and is now in the process of rolling it out as part of its ongoing improvements.
In a separate move, the video-sharing giant is testing an automatic system to identify key concepts covered in educational videos. This initiative aims to provide more in-depth information about these concepts using images and concise text snippets directly on the video's watch page.
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Creators will retain the ability to opt out of this feature at the video level through YouTube Studio. By going to the "Content" tab and selecting "Details" for a specific video, creators can choose to disallow automatic concept identification. Currently, this test is limited to a small collection of English-language educational videos. Furthermore, the experiment is available exclusively on mobile devices and is being conducted for a limited audience.
Furthermore, the company has also announced a new initiative to combat misinformation related to cancer treatments. The platform stated that it will remove content that promotes "cancer treatments proven to be harmful or ineffective" or content that discourages viewers from seeking professional medical treatment.
