YouTube started testing a new feature similar to Twitter's Community Notes

The internet is awash with misinformation, and to help fight that, YouTube is testing a new feature that gives users a role in clarifying things, and it works just like Community Notes on Twitter/X .

Before 'X', Twitter introduced a feature called Community Notes that allowed some users to provide information in a tweet/post that was misleading or confusing to clarify it, often also provide links for additional context. This is a very valuable, although still imperfect, feature that helps minimize the spread of misinformation.

Now, YouTube is also getting a similar feature.

While there's no official name yet, YouTube is sending out invitations to a pilot program for a new feature that appears to work very similarly to Community Notes.

Users who find videos 'confusing or inaccurate' can submit notes to clarify the video, others on the show can review those contributions and, as a group, decide what to watch whether to display notes on the video or not. If the note is approved, it will appear immediately below the video and may include a timestamp for the video itself.

Google first announced the feature in June and began testing it with "a limited number of eligible contributors," but it looks to roll it out more widely this week.

YouTube explains as follows:

How it works: When you find a video that might be confusing or inaccurate, you can submit a note for clarification. Your contributions will be reviewed by others for quality and usefulness before being added to the dashboard below the video.

The email further explains that this feature currently only works on mobile devices.

On its support page, YouTube provides more details about this feature. For users in the program, an "Add note" button will appear below the video, where you can write a note and send it. The name of the person/channel who submitted the note will be ignored if the note is published.

For best effectiveness, notes should cite sources (but be written in the user's own words), be understandable, be neutral (avoid personal opinions), provide non-existing context, and explain directly address the complaint made in the video or its title.

For program participants, YouTube will send a notification if a submitted note is published on a video. Notes are only published if they are considered "useful" by many people.

Notes will only appear below the video if many people rate it helpful. Our system looks at review history and identifies notes where reviewers who previously had different views on the note now agree. If people who have rated a note differently in the past now agree that the note is useful, our system is more likely to publish it.

It's unclear how widely available this new pilot program will be or when the feature will roll out more widely to the public.

Marvin Fry

Update 09 August 2024