YouTube is broadening its support for emerging creators by expanding the Hype program to 39 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and India. This initiative allows viewers to allocate “Hype points” to videos from creators with fewer than 500,000 subscribers, aiming to boost visibility for up-and-coming content.
Each user can assign up to three Hype points per week, with the option to purchase additional points. Videos accumulate points, contributing to a leaderboard that highlights promising creators. YouTube plans to introduce category leaderboards and features enabling viewers to create posts to spotlight videos they’ve supported in the coming fall.
In addition to expanding Hype, YouTube is enhancing its AI-generated video summaries. These summaries, currently available on select English-language videos, provide brief overviews to assist in content discovery.
Creators can offer feedback on these summaries to help improve YouTube’s content recognition systems. This initiative aims to refine the platform’s understanding of video content, benefiting both viewers and creators.
Moreover, YouTube is introducing new video templates in the YouTube Create app, available on Android devices. These templates offer customizable options, including royalty-free music, to assist creators in starting their video projects. Accessible via the app’s homepage or the templates tab, these tools are designed to simplify the video creation process and encourage more content production.
With Hype program and advanced creator controls, it seems like YouTube is trying their level best to remain relevant in times when short-form content still rules on TikTok and Instagram. Will these features counter the current status quo? Only time will tell.