- YouTube is testing a new feature that stops sending you messages from channels you no longer see
- The purpose of the feature is to prevent users from turning off push messages completely, rather than adjusting certain alarm settings for them.
- It may be a blessing for subscribers bombarded with unwanted messages but not so much for YouTube creators
Clearing your YouTube messages is a task in itself and it is not the easiest, especially when you subscribe to channels that upload constantly – but YouTube is working to solve it. In a new test, YouTube messages turn off channels you no longer engage in, and the days of overwhelming push messages are almost behind us.
YouTube published the message a few days ago, and it is specifically aimed at subscribers who have their messages set to ‘All’ but do not open these alarms. Notifications are still displayed in your message box in the YouTube app, but the platform turns off push alerts so you are not bombarded with unwanted updates. YouTube has gone into detail about how this will pan and indicate the following in its message;
“Viewers who have not recently engaged in a channel despite being sent recent push messages will not receive push messages in the experiment. Messages will still be available via the message inbox in the YouTube app. Channels that are rarely uploaded will not have their messages affected.” It is not certain whether users will be notified if they lack these warnings, nor the duration of this experiment.
When creators upload content to YouTube, one of the most important ways for them is to increase views and subscriber counting to encourage viewers to turn on notifications so they can be informed when a new video has been uploaded. If you are a frequent YouTube user and serial video surveillance like me, you’ve probably found yourself to turn on notifications for each possible channel, which results in an overwhelming wave of alarms – but the goal of YouTube’s test is more than just to fire excessive messages.
Another time -saving fringe but one that could cost creators
There are no arguments that having a platform take control of your notification settings is unorthodox and crosses the line to an invasion of personal settings. But this test can result in another time -saving fringe estate from YouTube after its recent experiments for playback queue.
While it is easy to change your message settings to avoid an avalanche of alarms, it is common for YouTube subscribers to disable these completely instead of adjusting the settings per. Channel – I would know I am guilty of this. With this latest experiment, YouTube aims to swing viewers from disabling messages just because their message inboxes stack up, which is a useful feature and one that I am sure to be grateful for in the long run, but I can see how this can hurt the creators.
Push messages are one of the most important things YouTube creators rely on getting their views up and keeping their audience engaged as they directly warn their subscribers when videos go live, so YouTube making the executive decision for viewers no longer receives alarms from channels is a bold move.
The platform is undergoing a lot of changes right now, after just launching its YouTube Premium Lite subscription level, but let’s hope that it emphasizes the needs of those who depend on their YouTube channel to earn a living.
