YouTube community notes

YouTube is a wild place. Need to figure out how to check your tire pressure? It’s on YouTube. Want to watch a short documentary on a band you love? It’s on YouTube. Want to watch a travel blogger talk about the best food in Madison, Wisconsin? You guessed it, it’s on YouTube.

I don’t spend a ton of time on the platform, but it’s been amazing watching friends and family build small businesses off of YouTube channels that generate meaningful income streams over time.

Then there’s the comment section. Like any social app, depending on the video the comment section can range from a relatively positive place to a space where you need to put on an emotional hazmat suit before entering.

Growing up watching music videos on YouTube, you’d see a lot of comments along the lines of “I’ve been listening since X year” or “I’m X years old and discovered this band”. These comments often get a ton of likes, but are they even true?

X (Twitter, whatever you want to call it) has made a heavy push towards crowdsourcing truth with community notes lately. It’s interesting to think about how or if this pattern could be extrapolated onto other social networks. How might YouTube benefit from something similar?

This is kind of unhinged, but could be a positive thing because people would probably be even more engaged in comments trying to find things that deserve to be noted.

Have a friend who desperately needs this feature? Send them this newsletter.

https://sorens.beehiiv.com/