For the longest time YouTube has dominated video on the web, and while comments have always been a form of communication between users and creators as well as users and other users, today YouTube is introducing a new form of communication inside of the app, as they have just started to launch a new messaging and sharing feature. The new feature is native, meaning you won’t have to exit out of the app to share a link with another person. Although it’s currently possible to share videos from YouTube with other people by using the already available share button that lets you post video links in other apps, the new feature will let you share a video right within the YouTube app to another user and then you’ll be able to have conversations about it that are separate from the comments sections on those videos. Essentially these will be private conversations that only include those who have been invited to the thread.
These changes are going to be rolling out to a smaller number of YouTube users to begin with and then gradually make their way out to all users, but those who end up with access to it now will be able to give access to the functionality out to friends by inviting them into a conversation thread. These threads will basically look like the conversations you’d see within other chat apps as opposed to a comment thread that you’ll find located under a video.
When going to share a video with others, accessing the message threads will be no different than the regular share process, but when tapping the share button there will be a new set of options for sharing that include groups of other YouTube users or a single user. Once users are part of a message thread they can enter, leave, and come back at their leisure and share their own videos to the thread. While Google and YouTube already make it simple for people to share videos and have conversations about them, this new way to share and discuss videos is liable to keep users within the YouTube app longer as there would be no need to leave the app to share or talk about what they’re watching. There is no listed time frame for how long it will take before the feature rolls out to everyone, but if you’re interested in utilizing it right away, your best bet may be to talk to friends and people you know who use the YouTube app themselves and see if they have access to the new feature, that way they can invite you into a conversation thread. This new feature follows other recent news surrounding YouTube that they’re rumored to be launching a cable TV service.