Get ready to Handle: Youtube's latest feature Google recently announced that it would be introducing a ‘handles’ feature on Youtube. These are unique identifiers meant to help users find and connect with the creators of their choice. Unlike channel names, Youtube handles would be unique; quashing the fear of impersonators; and offered for every channel. The handles are also said to work as unique channel URLs for every channel, for example, youtube.com/@mychannel. While previously, only creators with 100+ subscribers were allowed this feature, the new update will enable unique URLs for every channel. A level-playing move? Indeed! Alright then, now that the basics are understood, let’s take you through the deets:
When can we expect to be ‘handle’ed YouTube has announced the 14th of November as the date for people to choose their handles, after which the social media platform will automatically assign you one based on your channel name. But this can be changed at any point from youtube.com/handle because Youtube is chill.
Another important thing to note is that the rollout would be gradual. This is because there are billions of channels on the platform and the update needs time to make up for the big numbers. Also, since all handles must be unique and every channel on YouTube will have one, the timing of when a creator will get access to the handle-selection process will depend on several factors. This includes overall YouTube presence, subscriber count, and whether the channel is active or not, etc. In the majority of instances, if you already have a personalized URL, the unique part of the URL will automatically become your handle. But If you don’t have a personalized URL or want to change the existing one, you can opt to do so as soon as the notification from the YouTube Studio comes through.
This redirection to the new, handle-based URL is aimed at creating a better, more unified presence for creators on YouTube.