YouTube is testing a new feature

Crown

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YouTube is currently piloting a new feature that will showcase how many people are watching the same video at the same time:




The company is testing live view counts in its Android app, Android Police reports, which will display how many viewers are watching any given video concurrently. A handful of users reported seeing a ‘watching now’ figure below video titles — and right above the ‘thumbs up’ button (see below). Android Police notes that while several third-party websites provide live subscriber counts, this is the first time that concurrent viewership data on prerecorded videos has ever been available.

Full article and source: http://www.tubefilter.com/2017/08/14/youtube-piloting-live-view-count-feature-android-app/

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Pretty cool right? This would be particularly useful after a new upload. Thoughts?
 

Conso1727

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I can understand it for live videos, but a live views counter for recorded videos sounds pretty useless to me.
 

Switchbox

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I don't see the point.
It's just like an Apple Watch. Totally unnecessary.
 

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i like the idea. look forward it it becoming a regular feature
 
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KatyAdelson

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Hmmmm...I don't know if this will alienate some videos that always seem to have "1 watching now" since people seem to prefer feeling "with a crowd," but I think it's kind of cool! I have a feeling it may help popular videos that always draw a crowd be shared rather than smaller videos, but then again, it might make no difference...
 
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xingcat

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It could have a small psychological effect on people watching, but if you can't interact with them while you're all still on the same video, I don't see the point. Maybe if there were some sort of chat feature built in, but a chat that doesn't sync up with the video (as it does on livestreams) isn't that helpful, I don't think.
 

EVO

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I like the idea of it and can see it generating more comments?
 
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babyteeth4

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Agree it could help drive comments, plus bring viewers and creators together.
 

MarkRodriguez2012

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Yeah, I kinda miss the point. How often are you going to go to say.... that one video you posted 2 weeks ago and check to see if anyone is watching it NOW. Like some of you said before, it makes more sense with a livestream and those already tell you how many are watching.
 

3rdepsilon

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i guess it could be useful to know how much people in your region are watching because the first people who watch are most likely going to be people in your timezone.