The newest option in testing on YouTube is “Video Chapters”,
This option will display creator-submitted descriptions of sections that they find relevant within their videos on the playback timeline along the bottom of the video, according to Social Media Today.
The playback timeline will be sectioned into chapter lengths, that when highlighted will be expanding the specific timeline section and will provide a description on what the segment is about.
“It helps viewers with more context and information associated with a particular time in your video – it’s basically making time stamps a little bit more official,” YouTube Creator Insider host Tom Leung explains. “[Video chapters] utilize the time stamp data that you publish in your description, and are completely opt-in.”
Users could include timestamp markers within their YouTube videos as this option has been availabe for some times as well as allowing users to link to specific sections of a YouTube clip when sharing a video. However, this new option would provide more specific details on what each YouTube video actually includes in its segment thus making it easier for users to skip through and find what they’re looking for in long videos, according to Social Media Today.
Video Chapters is currently in its testing phase and is only available on Android and desktop, however, YouTube has not given Social Media Today any information regarding a wider rollout of the option at this stage.
In addition to Video Chapters, YouTube is also testing another new option which highlights comments from channel members under YouTube videos – this option is currently in the very early stages of testing at the time being.
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