YouTube Is Introducing Handles, With Unique Human-Readable URLs For Every Channel

YouTube is finally going to give @uniquenames -- that are comprehensible to human beings -- to every single channel on the platform. Variety reports: On Monday, the video giant announced that it is introducing handles, which it described as "a new way for people to easily find and engage with creators and each other on YouTube." The YouTube handles will appear on channel pages and Shorts, which will make it "simpler and faster to mention each other in comments, community posts, video descriptions and more," the service explained. For every existing channel -- YouTube says there are billions -- the platform will create a matching URL (i.e., youtube.com/@handle) that will direct visitors to the channel page. Previously, only creators with 100 or more subscribers were eligible for a custom URL. For everyone else, the URL for their YouTube channel has been a hashed unique ID, comprising a random string of alphanumeric characters.

The platform is gradually rolling out the ability for YouTube channel owners to choose a handle. Users will be notified via email and in YouTube Studio when they are able to select one. If you don't choose a handle by Nov. 14, YouTube will begin assigning ones based on channel names; users will be able to edit their handle from youtube.com/handle. If a channel already has a personalized URL, YouTube says that in the majority of cases that will automatically be redirected to the new, handle-based URL. According to YouTube, other URLs creators have established will continue to redirect to their channels (at the new handle URL). The timing of when a creator will get access to the handles selection process depends on a number of factors, according to YouTube, including "overall YouTube presence, subscriber count and whether the channel is active or inactive."

Re: First

[DrMrLordX]

No, @first

but it often rhymes

[fibonacci8]

Slowly we reinvent Archie and Gopher.

I was just thinking

[eaglesrule]

Yeah that's exactly what youtube needs, to be more like Twitter.

Hey I wonder, has Susan "microaggressions" Wojicki given herself any more free speech awards lately?

Re:

[belg4mit]

~user forever

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

> Susan "microaggressions" Wojicki

Remember, the best model for schizophrenia is "hyper salience".

Some people think the newspapers have hidden messages just for them. Others think all speech contains subtle personal attacks.

Try to be sympathetic.

This isn't new

[Fazeshift]

This was available to YouTubers prior to Google ingesting it. My URL still works now, and I definitely don't have the minimum subscriber count.

Make taxation sensible

[sonamchauhan]

Make taxation sensible - only tax that what isn't naturally balanced.

So if you want to tax cows, put sensible limits so only farms above a certain cow density (cows per unit per land area) are taxed, and that on a sliding scale. So tax concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) feedlots operations like this: https://www.livekindly.com/new... [livekindly.com]

Don't tax smaller farmers with cows that can roam over a large area.

Also, let farmers can plant trees to offset the burp taxation -- validate with Google maps satelli

an ass out of u and me

[Anonymouse Cowtard]

I'm assuming @catvids is already taken. As well as @funniestfails. And @mRNAvaxhoax.

I'm confused

[jenningsthecat]

Is this a reprise of Google's earlier attempt to have browsers hide full URL's in favour of dumbed-down ones that don't show details such as tracking information and redirects? Or is it a tacit admission that "real" URL's in the browser bar aren't going away?

Finally!

[brokenpineapple]

Finally YouTube has innovated it's way up to CB radio technology.

Re:

[Waffle Iron]

Yep, I'm going to register @rubberduck and @pigpen.

Let those truckers roll, 10-4.

This feels familiar

[ElizabethGreene]

I seem to recall YouTube having a feature like this once before... Oh yes, they did, until they turned it off for "reasons".

The old links still work, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/elizabethagreene [youtube.com]

You mean... usernames?

[Desirsar]

Last I checked, we already had something for this...