As part of the platform’s efforts to combat misinformation, YouTube has started a pilot programme to offer viewers additional context and details on a video’s contents.
This functions much like X’s (formerly Twitter) Community Notes feature, which utilises user-submitted information.
The initiative, originally announced in June, is currently being rolled out to a select group of contributors. It aims to help deal with issues like old footage being passed off as recent, videos containing parodies, and updates such as a new version of a product.
For the initial trial, user submissions will be vetted by third-party evaluators that will rate the helpfulness of each note to train YouTube's internal systems. These evaluators also provide feedback on YouTube’s search results and recommendations.
The video-sharing platform further says that it will allow contributors to rate submissions later on as the pilot programme progresses.
"Notes will appear publicly under a video if they’re found to be broadly helpful. People will be asked whether they think a note is ‘helpful’, ‘somewhat helpful’, or ‘unhelpful’ and why – for example, whether it cites high-quality sources or is written clearly and neutrally.
"From there, we’ll use a bridging-based algorithm to consider these ratings and determine what notes are published. A bridging-based algorithm helps identify notes that are helpful to a broad audience across perspectives.
"If many people who have rated notes differently in the past now rate the same note as helpful, then our system is more likely to show that note under a video.
"These systems will continuously improve as more notes are written and rated across a broad range of topics," YouTube wrote in a blog post from the original June announcement.
To be eligible as a contributor, YouTube users must have an active account in good standing with the platform's Community Guidelines. Those selected will receive an invitation via email or a YouTube Creator Studio notification.
Currently, it is unclear how widespread the rollout of the pilot programme will be and when it will be launched for all users.
