YouTube tests messaging feature for mobile users in Canada

Canadian users are being entrusted with YouTube’s newest feature that lets them talk to each other within the YouTube ecosystem, not under the comments section but a dedicated in-app messaging service.

Testing since months, the chat feature has been rolled out officially for users in Canada, who are avid YouTube users; around 70% of Canadians use YouTube at least once a month. The feature is available to iOs and Android users in Canada, and it allows them to share videos with their friends on YouTube itself, which was a matter of concern for the company.

YouTube is the answer to to everything that has to video, but viewers end up sharing them with their friends and family on other platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter.

If the feature does witness a mass roll-out in more countries, it could mean you can easily share and talk about the videos with your friends on YouTube itself, which is convenience for the viewers and more time spent on the platform, for YouTube.

Companies are known to test products in locations such as Canada, Australia, Iceland and other such countries with fewer but highly active users which gives them a better idea as to the quality of the new feature, whilst not rolling out the feature to a wide audience.

A worldwide launch could be foreseen, but only if the user feedback and adoption rate are satisfactory as per Google’s high standards.

When it comes to video, YouTube is truly the dominant platform, and as per Marketing Land, leads Vimeo, another popular video portal by millions. YouTube claims to have more than a billion users, whereas Vimeo is said to have around 100 million, meaning its user base is around 10% of that of YouTube.

Although YouTube is the market leader in the video portal category, it has had trouble incorporating social media elements, which Google too has suffered with Google Plus and Orkut.

Would you prefer to use the YouTube messaging feature to share videos with your friends if it is launched in India? Let us know at team@socialsamosa.com

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