YouTube now testing emoji reactions at specific time in videos
For a small number of users, YouTube is testing time-specific emoji reactions. When a certain moment in a video resonates with them, viewers may deploy an emoji. Users can also get a sense of how others reacted over the course of a video, according to Engadget.
There will be a distinct reaction panel in the comments of each video, which will show emoji reactions by the moment, similar to those provided by Facebook Live and Twitch.
According to a Team YouTube representative, Meaghan said, “If you are watching a video that is part of this experiment, you can react and see crowd reactions by opening the comment section of the video and tapping into the reaction panel. The test will also show you which moments other viewers are reacting to (which will be anonymized – we won’t show who sent each reaction),”
The spokesperson also added, “We are testing multiple sets of reactions and will add or remove reactions based on how the experiment goes!”
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Google frequently tests new features on YouTube, but they are rarely adopted. Recently, YouTube began a test that would allow viewers to time their responses to certain moments in a video and hide the “dislike” button.
On other social media networks, Emoji reactions have been hit-or-miss. Last year, Twitter experimented with emoji responses to tweets, and they were largely indifferent. Videos are a longer form of content, and therefore they are more likely to elicit a wide range of emotions. Source – IANS
When it comes to the availability, YouTube has revealed that it is testing the timed reactions experiment with a small group of creators. But there’s no indication when this functionality will be more widely accessible on the site.
