YouTube Introduces Subscriber-Only Chat Feature for Livestreams
YouTube has made several updates to its livestreaming features, including the introduction of an option for content creators to enable subscriber-only chat.
While this moderation feature has been available on Twitch for a long time, YouTube’s decision to implement it comes after consistent growth in the platform over the past three years.
Understanding Subscriber-Only Chat on YouTube
The functionality of subscriber-only chat on YouTube is similar to follower-only chat on Twitch. However, it is important to note that the term “subscribing” on YouTube and Twitch holds different meanings.
Unlike Twitch, YouTube channel subscribers do not pay a monthly fee. Subscriptions on YouTube serve the same purpose as followers on Twitch.
How to Activate Subscriber-Only Chat
To enable the chat moderation function, streamers can navigate to their Live Control Room and click on “Edit”. This will open a window displaying the stream’s live settings.
In the “Live chat” tab, streamers can find various moderation options, including the ability to change who is allowed to send messages in chat.
By selecting “Subscribers,” streamers have additional options to set the duration of a subscription before a person can participate in the chat. This helps prevent people from subscribing just to spam the chat momentarily.
Once the desired settings have been adjusted, streamers can click the blue “Save” button in the bottom right corner of the screen to apply the changes.