YouTube is going to introduce a feature that puts Community Notes from Twitter right into the hands of creators. The platform believes this move will improve the accuracy of information users share. If you remember, in its earlier avatar, Birdwatch essentially allowed the same on Twitter—fact-checking by users. Well, YouTube decided to take a cue from this concept to clear up any confusion or inaccuracies in videos.
In case of misleading information, it is possible to add notes to clarify. The feature appeared at the bottom of some videos and called for people to contribute. According to a report by 9to5Google, the notes will be assessed by other people who hold different views before their publication. That way, contributions will be quality-controlled and useful.
This feature is quite similar to that on Twitter. Only those notes that have obtained good ratings from a variety of people will get published. Feedback from users with varied opinions is gathered by the system to increase the credibility of the submitted notes. Maintaining these opinions diverse over time is challenging.
The company announced this feature back in June, and now it’s sending out invitations to join the program. Whether it will remain a pilot or if there are wider ambitions for a launch is unclear. As more users contribute to it, it will become clearer how well this feature can work to make videos more accurate.
The Community Notes feature on YouTube is a giant step toward better accuracy of information. Contributing to and reviewing the notes can help users create a more informed community, which is exactly what YouTube expects from this move. Similar efforts are underway on other platforms; the requirement for dependable content checks never stops.
