Following the hidden thumbs-down count, other changes on YouTube are soon to grace its users. Content creators on YouTube are given a layer of protection from comment spamming and account impersonation as the video-sharing platform enforces stricter but more flexible security measures in its YouTube Studio settings.
'Increase Strictness' Option to be Available for YouTube Creators
First off, an "increase strictness" option is now available, allowing creators to put "potentially inappropriate comments" for review for up to 60 days under a "held for review" tab. This means these identified comments will only be visible in the YouTube Studio and not on the watch page giving more ease of control to creators.
Comment spam on YouTube may take various forms. Major creators are frequently concerned about spam that impersonates them, promises viewers something in exchange for emailing them, and then drives people away from YouTube in some way to finally swindle them.
Before the new feature, creators were only limited to options of either entirely disabling comments on their videos or holding all comments for review and then manually going through them. This new feature increases security while offering a more convenient way for creators to manage their pages and comments.
For this setting, video creators may add words or phrases to their "blocked words list," leading YouTube to filter and put on hold all comments with these blocked terms and all others that may closely match these. The screened "potentially inappropriate comments" will be the only ones left for manual review before they are either deleted or publicly shown on a creator's video or channel.
YouTube Plans on Hiding Subscriber Count for Creators
Another measure people can expect by July, though appearing to be debatable among users, would be the required display of subscriber counts. While many creators would rather have their subscriber count hidden particularly when they still are starting to build an online reputation, YouTube suggests that this measure makes the platform safer for all.
This was a move in response to the rise of channel impersonation, wherein fake channels are created posing as a famous page, luring and misleading many subscribers to their channel in the process. These account impersonators often leave comments on others' content with the goal of attracting subscribers with their stolen identities. The subscriber count is often an indicator of credibility and true identity. Having this hidden has fooled many online users into following these false channels.
Channel impersonation is often made possible by the sneaky use of special characters to imitate letters of a legitimate channel's name. Many who end up following account impostors easily miss accents or diacritics on letters. YouTube is aware of this and has thus initiated to lessen and limit the set of characters that creators can use to make a channel name as well.
As the content creation and video sharing community continues to grow, so does the number of ill-intentioned individuals who push their luck for any form of gain online. The new settings and measures YouTube has introduced may relieve budding and professional video creators, letting them focus more on their content than on the many risks social media continues to bring.
