YouTube Is Testing the Ability to Add Notes to Videos – "youtube" – Google News

YouTube is testing a new feature that seems inspired by X, giving users the ability to add notes to videos to provide additional information and context.

Content moderation is one of the biggest challenges facing social media platforms. YouTube’s latest effort to address the issue would tap into the power its user base.

Starting today, we are testing an experimental feature to allow people to add notes to provide relevant, timely, and easy-to-understand context on videos. For example, this could include notes that clarify when a song is meant to be a parody, point out when a new version of a product being reviewed is available, or let viewers know when older footage is mistakenly portrayed as a current event.

The company says the initial test will be in the US and only in English. If a note is found to be broadly helpful, it will appear publicly under the video.

Notes will appear publicly under a video if they’re found to be broadly helpful. People will be asked whether they think a note is “helpful,” “somewhat helpful,” or “unhelpful” and why – for example, whether it cites high-quality sources or is written clearly and neutrally.

From there, we’ll use a bridging-based algorithm to consider these ratings and determine what notes are published.

A bridging-based algorithm helps identify notes that are helpful to a broad audience across perspectives. If many people who have rated notes differently in the past now rate the same note as helpful, then our system is more likely to show that note under a video. These systems will continuously improve as more notes are written and rated across a broad range of topics.

There is no time frame for a full rollout, but it should be interesting to see how the feature impacts engagement.