YouTube's CEO, Susan Wojcicki, hinted about the video streaming company's plans for the year ahead, including adding NFTs for creators and allowing them to connect with fans in a new way.
YouTube to Add Creator Tools
On Feb. 10, the company's chief product officer, Neal Mohan, wrote a blog post that talked more about the plans and gave more details on the site's focus on creating more tools for its creators this year, according to The Verge.
The post listed several plans for YouTube, but NFTs are definitely the most interesting part of it since NFTs are the hottest trend right now, and other massive tech companies are working on their own efforts to add NFTs to their business.
A YouTube spokesperson told TechCrunch that they see several interesting applications, like NFTs, being used to help manage a community of common interests. It can also enable better crowdfunding for creators and help artists sell their work in a way that can get them a rev share for future sales.
The spokesperson added that they believe YouTube can add several unique values to what people are already doing on the platform.
Other new features will include features around Shopping, where YouTube will be rolling out shoppable videos, shopping opportunities across the site, and Live Shopping.
YouTube users will not be surprised about the changes because the company has been testing the features in the past few months. One test with businesses like Walmart had more than 2 million views and 1.4 million Live Chat messages.
YouTube's Live Streaming
Another area on YouTube that will get new features is live streaming; one will be collaboration. With collaboration, creators will be able to go live together so they can mix things up, share content, and more, according to Reuters.
Video effects and analytics for creators will also get updates. Video effects can help enhance videos, and the analytics section lets creators see whether viewers like what they are seeing.
Monahan said that the new tools to roll out this year would include more video effects and editing tools. This comes as no surprise because several of these tools are available on other platforms already, giving YouTube creators another excuse to post their work elsewhere.
One interesting change that will keep creators on the platform is that they will soon be able to reply to comments on videos with YouTube Shorts, which is the platform's short-form video answer to TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat.
The creator industry, especially videos that are user-generated, is where the action is today. It also gives a stable income to creators.
YouTube certainly has a clear reason for pursuing these changes and building tools to continue to keep its creators.
TikTok, considered YouTube's biggest rival and has become very popular worldwide, is already outpacing other social media platforms such as Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram, and more.
If YouTube won't innovate and update its tools for creators, TikTok may come after them next.
Google also stated that it is exploring new technologies such as NFTs and Web3 to improve both creators and viewers.
Last year, YouTube tested new features that allowed users to buy the products seen in the videos.
YouTube also added Live Redirect and Gifted Memberships for the creators.
Related Article: YouTube Music Adds New Feature Called 'Replay Mix' Designed for Your Most Played Songs
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
