YouTube Rolls Out Discord-Like Communities Feature

Google is now expanding the rollout of its Communities feature, which first debuted at the company’s Made on YouTube event in September 2024.

The feature introduces dedicated spaces on channels where creators and viewers can start and join conversations, share updates, and build relationships. These spaces look broadly similar to those available on the social network Discord. Both channel owners and viewers can create and share posts, which Google says will help foster “back-and-forth conversations and fan-to-fan connections.”

YouTube has started inviting creators to enable their Communities. These invited users will receive their notifications via email and have a banner displayed on their channel pages. These creators can then head to their channel pages and tap “Go to Community” to turn on their Communities and learn more about the feature. Channel owners also have the power to moderate and control who posts in their Communities, for example, removing users who cause trouble.

The feature is only available on mobile right now and Google didn’t mention if this is set to change anytime soon.

To avoid confusion, it’s important to note that YouTube already had a ‘Communities’ feature, which allowed creators to post non-video content (or promote their products or other social channels).

YouTube has been rolling out plenty of new features over the past year, including collaborative playlists, which allow users to share their playlists with friends and family to add their suggestions, and a Sleep Timer for those who have fallen into the habit of dozing off while watching YouTube. The video giant also introduced an adjustable mini-player to enable better multitasking while watching videos, as well as AI-suggested comments for busy creators.

Despite the intense competition, YouTube is still broadly proving a hit with users. It garnered the highest satisfaction rating out of any major social media platform in recent polling by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), except for rival TikTok. YouTube picked up a satisfaction score of 77, versus TikTok’s 78, but still clearly beating rival social networks such as Meta’s Facebook and Elon Musk’s X, which both picked up a 69 score.

About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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