YouTube product manager Neal Mohan has revealed some details about the streaming video platform’s ambitions. In the post titled A Look at 2022: Community, Collaboration, and Commerce, Neal Mohan outlines the upcoming changes aimed at three specific groups: creators, viewers, and partners.
What’s changing for creators on YouTube in 2022
For creators, YouTube explained its goals for its short (Shorts), live video (Live) and video on demand (VOD) formats.
First, YouTube reiterated its plans to help creators better monetize their short-form content. This includes an expansion of the existing YouTube Shorts fund, better support for its BrandConnect feature, and access to “fan-funded features like Super Chat” through Shorts.
Picture: YouTube.
Live Videos will soon have a new collaborative livestreaming feature that will allow multiple creators to go live together, which the company hopes will “open up streams to more casual conversations and interactions with other creators.” ‘other creators, which will make going live easier and more fun’.
Finally, YouTube’s traditional video-on-demand pages will also get a new feature that will allow users to purchase channel subscriptions for other users.
Picture: YouTube.
YouTube also revealed plans to revamp its commenting system with a new feature allowing viewers to link their comments to a specific point in the video they’re commenting on. This feature will likely launch around the same time as the ability to set channel editorial guidelines. YouTube says this will “better set the tone of conversations on its channel” (and reduce the notorious toxicity that many of the comments suffer from).
Perhaps the most important element of YouTube’s ambitions for its creators is its continued efforts to delve into Web3 technology. This goal was first mentioned by YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki in her own blog post about upcoming plans for 2022.
In this post, Mohan digs into the details of YouTube’s Web3 strategies, revealing specific plans to create “a verifiable way for fans to own unique videos, photos, artwork, and even experiences from their favorite creators.” . This language confirms that YouTube intends to create its own NFTs not only for videos posted on its site, but also for other forms of media.
Mohan notes that YouTube is “making sure we approach these new technologies responsibly,” just to show that the company is aware of the current bad buzz around NFTs. The environmental impact of such technology, along with the fact that some view NFTs and other digital tokens as a scam, has led many Web3 enthusiasts to lose their fervor.
What’s changing for YouTube visitors in 2022
For users, YouTube plans to introduce “a new way for viewers to use their smartphones while watching YouTube on their TV”. Although the language is vague, it looks like viewers will soon be able to leave comments and share video clips via their smartphone while watching the content in question on their TV.
The interface of the YouTube TV streaming service will also be overhauled, with new functions for organizing content.
Finally, YouTube explains that like all other companies, it is exploring ways to bring its content into the metaverse. Apparently, this initiative will focus on games first, where it hopes to “bring more interactions to games and make them feel more alive”.
What’s changing for YouTube partners in 2022
YouTube’s plans for its partners this year revolve around one thing: shopping. The new Shopping feature will be a multi-faceted initiative that will introduce things like buyable videos and live shopping.
Shoppable videos promise to allow users to purchase the products featured in a video directly from the same video page.
As for Live Shopping, it must allow creators to “present new products, unveil exclusive offers or discuss their latest purchases”, with continuous monetization.
YouTube didn’t provide a specific timeline on when its 2022 ambitions might hit mainstream audiences.
Source: ZDNet.com