Alphabet YouTube will soon allow users to contribute ‘notes’ that provide context to some of its videos as part of a new feature that will be pushed out first in the United States, the company announced on Monday.
As part of the initial test phase, YouTube will allow specific users and producers to add notes that provide “relevant, timely, and easy-to-understand context” on videos.
The notes, for example, could clarify when a song is intended to be a parody, indicate when a new version of a product being reviewed is available, or inform viewers when older footage is incorrectly depicted as a current occurrence.
The social media platform X includes a similar feature called Community Notes, which allows select contributors to add context to messages, including tags like “misleading” and “out of context”.
YouTube’s notes feature will initially be available on mobile in the United States and in English. Before a potential broader release, third-party assessors will rate the usefulness of notes, which will aid in system training, according to YouTube.
