Ryan Wyatt, the managing director of gaming and commerce at YouTube, shared on Twitter that, following requests from the community, YouTube is testing a so-called “subcribers-only mode,” which will enable creators to host exclusive chats their subscribers.
The aim of the feature is to streamline chats to more dedicated fan groups.
Per a YouTube support post, the test is only available to “a small number of creators,” though the platform said it hopes to roll it out more fully in the future. To access the subscribers-only chat feature, creators can go to their ‘Live Control Rooms’, click ‘Edit’, click ‘Live Chat’, and then select ‘Subscribers’ under ‘Who Can Send A Message’.
Creators can also limit chats to anyone, to channel members (who pay a monthly fee), or to specific individuals (pictured above).
On Twitter, Wyatt noted that creators can specify how long viewers need to be subscribed in order to participate in chats, with settings that can be changed before or during live streams or video Premieres.
Australia's latest proposed social media legislation takes aim at recommendation algorithms. If passed, it will…
In 2025, Roblox paid out more than $1.5 billion to creators of games and UGC…
Rhett and Link have had a lot of airtime to fill over the 14-year run of…
The Internet Movie Database is as old as the World Wide Web itself, and as it enters…
In an era defined by siloed feeds and hyperspecific recommendations, numerous commentators have argued that…
Countless thinkpieces have been published on the homebody tendencies of Gen Z, but Snapchat believes that its…