Highlights:
- YouTube rolls out Super Thanks, its version of Tip Jar feature from Twitter
- Super Thanks will show up under the videos similar to comments on YouTube
- YouTube Super Thanks will not be like the subscription feature
The Google-owned streaming platform YouTube, on Wednesday, added a new tool which will the viewers to pay creators. The tool which is called Super Thanks is similar to Twitter’s Tip Jar feature and allows users to choose pre-selected amounts to pay creators for their content.
Unlike the paid subscription tiers, these features are meant to enhance creators’ revenues by getting pay for individual pieces of content that may not be held under premium subscriptions.
Unlike the subscription features on YouTube, Super Thanks will show up under the videos similar to comments, however, they will be in a different colour and creators will be able to reply to these like any other comments too.
In a blog post, the company said, “Super Thanks is currently in beta and with today’s expansion, is now available to thousands of monetizing creators. The feature is available to creators and viewers in 68 countries on desktop and mobile devices (Android and iOS)”.
YouTube will also expand this feature to its other Partner Program later this year.
YouTube also allows the content creators on its platform to offer premium content by charging subscription fees for their channels. This shows up on the platform as a second “Join” button that is placed next to the “subscribe” button under the video.
This allows the creators to make specific subscription-only content for their most valued customers.
Two other features –Super Chat and Super Sticker launched in 2017 and 2019 respectively – allow creators to earn revenues from their content.
The addition of the “Super Thanks” feature on YouTube shows how platforms, under pressure from regulators for killing small businesses, are ramping up ways to allow creators to monetize. Note that YouTube still has not revealed what it’s cut from the revenues earned off Super Thanks will be.
Even the micro-blogging platform Twitter announced a Super Follow feature earlier this year which is akin to YouTube’s subscription tier. The US based micro-blogging giant is also allowing creators on its platform to sell tickets for its new Spaces platform, which allows audio-only content like viral platform Clubhouse.
