YouTube’s new ‘Stay Q&A’ function makes it simpler to handle questions throughout livestreams • TechCrunch

YouTube is introducing a brand new “Stay Q&A” function that’s designed to make it simpler for creators to work together with viewers throughout livestreams. When creators begin a Q&A, the immediate will seem as a pinned message within the chat. Viewers can then submit their questions and creators can choose one and pin it, so viewers know what the creator is responding to.

Up to now, creators have needed to parse by means of a flood of questions submitted within the stay chat. The brand new function will floor questions in an organized means that’s simpler for creators to handle. Once you’re achieved with the Q&A session, you possibly can return to the usual stay chat.

“Stay Q&A permits you to create and handle Q&A periods in stay chat throughout your streams and Premieres proper from Stay Management Room (LCR),” YouTube stated in a weblog publish. “With Stay Q&A you possibly can extra simply construct neighborhood whereas replying to a sequence of on-topic questions written by your viewers. This feature will seem alongside Stay Polls, one other good way so that you can work together with these watching your stream.”

YouTube says that questions are ordered chronologically, with those submitted first showing on the prime. Though there isn’t a most variety of questions allowed, the oldest ones within the record will not seem after 200 have been submitted.

Picture Credit: YouTube

Questions which are submitted by means of Stay Q&A are managed by the identical techniques that enable creators to reasonable stay chat. It’s value noting that moderators can’t handle questions in Stay Q&As, however customers with Supervisor or Editor channel permissions will have the ability to handle the Q&A listing, which suggests they will view the questions record, choose inquiries to reply and take away questions.

The launch of the brand new function comes as YouTube is trying to compete with Twitch and TikTok, the latter of which has its personal devoted Q&A function for livestreams.

As YouTube focuses on competing with different platforms, the corporate has beefed up its livestream providing with new options. YouTube has a Tremendous Thanks function that enables viewers who wish to present further appreciation for a video to pay creators with certainly one of 4 pre-set quantities, ranging between $2 and $50. The corporate additionally has a Tremendous Chat monetization function, which is a means for creators to earn cash from their livestreams. There’s additionally a Tremendous Stickers function that’s geared toward followers who wish to present their help and join with their favourite creators.

Youtube introduced final week that it’s gearing as much as roll out a brand new function that can enable choose creators to ask a visitor to go stay with them. At launch, creators will solely have the ability to co-stream through a telephone, because the function gained’t be out there on the desktop model of YouTube. The brand new function will initially solely be out there to a choose group of creators, however YouTube plans to broaden co-streaming to extra creators sooner or later.