YouTube is giving some much-needed shine to unsung creators around the world. Hype, a feature that highlights channels with fewer than 500,000 subscribers, is now available globally.
We spotted YouTube’s Hype feature on a channel with about 75,000 subscribers.
On YouTube’s mobile app, the Hype button will appear on eligible channels next to other creator-friendly features like Remix and Thanks. Viewers can give Hype to three videos per week, and the uploads that receive the most kudos will show up on a central leaderboard that can be found (again, on mobile) via the Explore tab.
The points system is weighted so that smaller channels benefit more from receiving Hype, but anyone under the 500,000-subscriber threshold can benefit from YouTube’s new feature. Hyped videos, for example, will carry a badge that will appear across the platform.
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YouTube first announced Hype last year, when it said it would test the feature in Brazil, Turkey, and Taiwan. Less than a year later, Hype is spreading to 39 countries, including major markets like the U.S. and India.
“The hype is building, and we have more features on the way,” reads a blog post announcing the expansion. “Soon, there’ll be leaderboards for specific interests like gaming and style, and a way for you to easily share that you just hyped a video to cast an even bigger spotlight.”
For creators who are struggling to grow on YouTube, Hype might not seem like much, since there will be stiff competition for the 100 spots on the leaderboard. What the feature does do is express the growing importance of so-called “microinfluencers,” who are able to haul in marketing dollars even though they lack substantial subscriber counts. By rolling out Hype widely, YouTube is saying that size matters not. Even on a smaller channel, an impressive video can break through.
So which clips have made it to leaderboard so far? It’s still early, so thus far, the list of Hyped videos touches many of the top trends on YouTube Shorts. There are cooking videos, memes derived from The Amazing Digital Circus, and survival content. As YouTube’s Trending tab phases out, the Hype-eligible masses will be able to show that they too know how to harness popular categories for their own benefit.
