• YouTube has launched a new Communities platform to serve as a dedicated space for creator and fan interactions.
• It serves as an evolution of the Community tab that YouTube previously made available.
• The new space will be tested on mobile, before rolling out to more channels in early 2025.

While hosting its Made On YouTube event this week, the Google-owned platform announced a new dedicated space for fan and creator interactions called YouTube Communities.

Described as being similar to a Discord channel for YouTube creators, it is seemingly designed to keep both creators and fans within the YouTube ecosystem of products, although it is unclear if there will be any monetisation mechanisms that will eventually be added.

For now, YouTube Communities will serve as a space for more nuanced engagement that the current comments section provides.

“While fans and creators can find each other in comments and the Community tab, conversations would often revolve around a creator’s latest video or post. We wanted to build a space where, for the first time ever, subscribers can chat with each other and the creator directly. This introduces a whole new level of interaction on YouTube, and takes some pressure off creators to always make new content to keep their community buzzing,” the company explained in a blog post.

As for how Communities will aim to be different, YouTube outlined the following four areas:

• “Fan-initiated: Conversations and comments can be initiated and shared by fans, with creator control over who can participate. To start, only subscribers can post in Communities, and we’re evaluating more controls that could be helpful to creators as we continue our tests.
  
• Dedicated space: A dedicated spot for conversation and connection, empowering creators to maintain control over their content and brand while fostering meaningful community engagement in a comfortable and inviting space.
  
• Continuous dialog: Conversations transcend individual videos and posts, allowing topics to flow organically and continue over time.
  
• Community-powered: Fans drive the space, creating a sense of belonging where like-minded individuals can connect, learn, and share their passions.”

Unfortunately this newly announced dedicated space will not be available to all, with YouTube confirming that it is testing Communities on mobile devices with a small group of creators and their fans.

Following more testing, it plans to widen the access slightly more, before expanding access to more channels in early 2025.

Whether Discord or Reddit have anything to worry about down the line, remains to be seen.