YouTube asks you not to be so terrible in the comments

Are you sure you should post this?

YouTube this week ad a new community checkout feature meant to help clean up the vitriol in the comments section of its platform and facilitate ‘respectful interactions’. Now Android users can see a pop-up before posting a comment on YouTube that can be hurtful. This prompt will ask them to “Keep comments respectful” and determine if the comment they are sharing “is appropriate.” Users will still be able to go ahead and post the comment if they choose to be terrible, but the prompt includes an “edit” button meant to reduce abuse on the platform.

Now, unless you remove comments completely, YouTube’s community policy metrics likely won’t be erased offensive comments. YouTube itself notes that whatever systems and filters are put in place, “they’re constantly learning and don’t always work well.” Additionally, comments that do not receive the prompt first can still be removed by the commenter, the video creator, or YouTube if they violate the platform’s rules.

But YouTube says the measure is part of a larger initiative to make the platform more inclusive, adding that it has accelerated the suppression of hate speech in comments 46 times since early 2019. As another measure, YouTube will begin asking creators on a voluntary basis to share their gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity. This information will help the company identify patterns of hate and harassment and understand how certain communities are treated when it comes to monetization and discovery, YouTube said.

YouTube users who follow creators regularly have probably seen channel owners incorporate language in their captions like “Be nice in the comments.” It’s amazing how long it took for YouTube to embed some sort of official prompt in this sense, but hey, better late than never I guess.