Fact Checking

(Media News) YouTube Introduces Community Notes to Enhance Video Context

[ad_1]

According to Social Media Today, YouTube has announced a new feature allowing users to add contextual notes to videos, akin to X’s (formerly Twitter) Community Notes. This feature, initially available on mobile in the U.S. in English, aims to provide relevant and easy-to-understand context.

According to YouTube, notes will be visible if deemed broadly helpful. Users can rate notes as “helpful,” “somewhat helpful,” or “unhelpful” and explain their reasoning, such as citing high-quality sources or clarity. A bridging-based algorithm will use these ratings to decide which notes are published.

Originally called “Birdwatch,” Community Notes on X became a tool under Elon Musk to reduce the need for paid moderation by allowing users to determine the content’s veracity. While YouTube does not plan to rely solely on community notes, it views this feature as a supplementary element to enhance the context of certain clips.

YouTube acknowledges potential errors during the pilot phase but invites feedback to refine the system.