The LAST YouTube Updates in 2023 | Memberships & ChatModding Tools

Final YouTube Updates for 2023: Memberships and Moderation

As 2023 draws to a close, the final set of YouTube updates for the year has arrived. While the regular patch runs will pause for the holiday season, Creators can expect the cycle to resume on January 6th. To bridge the gap and provide a space for deeper discussion, a livestream is planned for late December. This session will focus on the general experience of being a Creator on YouTube, offering a venue for real-time questions and community interaction. Those who wish to participate are encouraged to submit their questions via the comments or keep an eye on upcoming Community Posts for the exact date and time.

Before the year ends, there are two specific updates regarding community engagement and stream management that Creators should be aware of.

Expanding Reach with Membership Gifting

One of the most significant rollouts currently in progress involves Membership Gifting. This feature is designed to lower the barrier to entry for viewers who may be hesitant to join a membership tier on their own, allowing the community to grow through generosity.

Eligibility and Requirements

The rollout is specific to certain account configurations and pricing structures. To benefit from this feature, Creators must meet the following criteria:

• Membership Tiers: You must offer Memberships with at least one tier priced under $5.
• Account Type: This currently applies to those using a main account rather than a Brand Account.

For those meeting these requirements, Brand Accounts launching within the next month will have the ability to gift five Memberships to their viewers, twice a month.

The Strategic Value of Gifting

It is important to note that Membership Gifting is not a primary revenue driver. Because the memberships are gifted, the Creator is not “printing money” or seeing a massive spike in direct income from these specific slots. Instead, the value lies in the gesture.

By gifting memberships, Creators can introduce a wider variety of viewers to their exclusive perks. This acts as a trial period of sorts; once a viewer experiences the benefits of a membership tier, they are more likely to convert into a paying member in the future. It is a tool for community growth and viewer appreciation rather than immediate monetization.

Strengthening Live Stream Moderation

Managing a live audience is one of the most challenging aspects of being a Creator. While positive engagement is the goal, “misbehaving” viewers can disrupt the flow of a broadcast and negatively impact the experience for everyone else. To combat this, YouTube is gradually rolling out enhanced moderation tools.

New Timeout Durations

A key part of this update is the introduction of more flexible timeout lengths. Previously, timeout options may have been too short to be effective or too permanent. The current rollout is introducing specific timeout windows, including durations between 12 and 24 hours.

This provides Creators and their moderators with a more nuanced “cooling off” period. Rather than resorting to a permanent ban, a 12-to-24-hour timeout allows a disruptive user to be removed from the conversation for a significant amount of time, effectively neutralizing the disruption for the duration of a stream or a full day, without permanently losing a member of the audience.

Looking Ahead to January

While these timeout adjustments are a welcome improvement, they are only a preview of larger changes. More comprehensive mod tools are expected to be addressed and detailed in January. For Creators who frequently stream on YouTube Live, monitoring these tools in YouTube Studio will be essential to maintaining a healthy and respectful chat environment.

Summary and Next Steps

As the year ends, the focus for many Creators will shift toward planning for 2024. Whether it is optimizing Membership tiers to take advantage of gifting or refining moderation strategies for upcoming live events, these small patches provide the building blocks for a more professional channel presence.

The next official patch run will begin on January 6th. Until then, Creators are encouraged to engage with the community and prepare their questions for the upcoming end-of-year livestream. For those looking to grow their channels in the new year, staying updated on these gradual rollouts is the best way to ensure you are utilizing every tool YouTube provides to support Creator growth and community management.

Original transcript

Transcript

This is the last YouTube patch run for this year, after which we’ll be back on January 6th. A heads up: if you have any urgent topics you’d like to discuss, we’ll be hosting a livestream next week or sometime during the following week where we can talk about YouTube and being a Creator again. All questions are welcome - feel free to post them in the comments so I can prepare, or just join live. You’ll find the date in a Community Post that I’ll create shortly.

Let’s move on to the last two small changes. Last week, I mentioned that the Membership Giving rollouts have started and are in full swing. This means that if you offer Memberships and have a Membership tier under $5 without having a Brand Account, but rather a main account, then Brand Accounts that launch within the next month will be able to gift five Memberships to their viewers twice a month. It’s not exactly printing money, logically you won’t be making any revenue from it, but it’s simply a nice gesture to viewers to encourage more people to use Memberships and potentially enjoy your Membership perks.

Staying on the topic of live streaming - it’s somewhat interconnected, but now we’re talking about the other side: people misbehaving. A super difficult topic. The mod tools we’ve already hinted at will be addressed again in January. We’re already getting a small taste of this with the gradual rollout of K-timeout lengths. Today, for example, I saw that timeouts between 12 and 24 hours are already available in one of my live streams. And yes, this is indeed a good change. Please let me know if it’s already active in your live streams or if you’re able to use it if the need arises. Of course, I hope it never becomes necessary, but sometimes streamers know how it goes and you can’t resist, and you have to remove people.

That’s all for today - as mentioned, this is the last YouTube patch for this month, and even for this year. We’ll see each other again on January 6th, and otherwise in the livestream if you’d like to join and chat again. I’d be delighted! I want to thank you for this fantastic year, thank you for subscribing, commenting, and liking - it’s been a great pleasure. I hope we can continue to present this channel to you. We already have a few ideas regarding Memberships. I assume that around February, we’ll reach the small partner level on this channel. Of course, you could also completely throw me off and make it happen sooner. Please share this with all your friends!

But at this point, I’d like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for those who don’t celebrate Christmas, and of course a Happy New Year. Don’t slide too far! For those I still see in the stream: I’m looking forward to seeing you. Until then, take care and keep pushing! [Music]