YouTube is exploring new ways to integrate social-media features. The platform is testing “Community Spaces”, which will allow followers of a channel to participate and interact through text messages. In a screenshot posted by Lindsey Gamble, an influencer marketing expert, we can see an example of these new spaces.
Community Spaces offer a dedicated area on creators’ account profiles for fans to see text updates and share their own posts. Currently, YouTube is testing this feature with a select group of creators, with the intention of expanding it in the future.
This initiative is an extension of Community Posts, which YouTube made available to all channels in June of last year. Community Posts allow creators to publish text updates in a specific feed, providing another way to interact with their fans. Now, YouTube wants followers to also participate, facilitating greater interaction within the app.
The relationship between YouTube and social media-inspired features has been changing over time. For example, YouTube gradually reduced the importance of comments on videos due to the sometimes toxic nature of the comments. However, now they’re looking to improve engagement within channel communities through Community Posts, which will hopefully facilitate a more positive interaction.
