YouTube Live Streaming: 5 Brand New Features For Creators

YouTube has teased five brand new features around live streaming for 2022. Creators can expect more opportunities to collaborate on live streams, plus increase engagement with live Q&As

#1 Live Rings: Let Viewers Know When You’re Streaming

YouTube plans to add ‘Live Rings’ around a creator’s profile picture to alert viewers when a channel is live. The aim is to increase discovery and viewership for live streaming content across desktop and mobile.

#2 Go Live Together: New Opportunities for Collaboration

YouTube confirmed it’s running a test for a collaborative streaming feature for mobile devices. ‘Go Live Together’ will allow creators to invite guests to broadcast with them. All you need to do is send that guest a unique link. You’ll also get the chance to screen your invited guest before going live. 

Regarding Adsense revenue, pre-roll and mid-roll ads apply in a ‘Go Live Together’ stream, but only the host channel will benefit.

#3 Live Q&A with Viewers

Live Q&A on live streams will allow viewers to ask questions in real-time based on the creator’s question prompt. 

Answered queries will be pinned temporarily to the top of the live chat window to encourage other viewers to submit their own.

#4 Split-Screen Viewing On Mobile

YouTube is currently developing a feature for mobile devices to give viewers two different viewing experiences. The live chat engagement panel will eventually sit to the right of the screen (replacing the current overlay view), ensuring the viewer doesn’t miss a thing.

#5 Cross-Channel Live Redirects

Currently, creators with at least 1,000 subscribers can only direct their viewers from a live stream to another live stream on their own channel. 

This new feature will allow the creator to direct their viewers to a live stream hosted on a different channel.

If you want to learn more about these features, take a look at the news direct from YouTube in the following video: 

‘Go Live Together’ and ‘Live Rings’ will be available in the next couple of weeks, while the other features are coming soon.