YouTube announced this week that it is testing a new member giving feature with a small group of creators The company launched a beta version of "channel membership giving" from today. Channel membership is a YouTube version of twitter subscription service, which allows users to pay a monthly fee for additional benefits while supporting creators.
Through membership giving, the channel members of the creator can buy a certain number of channel memberships in one purchase, and then YouTube will give them to other viewers in the live broadcast of the creator. Viewers who receive gifts will receive one month's use rights from creators channel members. Users need to choose to join so that they can receive the complimentary membership on the channel by clicking "allow gifts". When someone purchases the complimentary membership, the announcement of complimentary membership will appear in the real-time chat.
YouTube will then distribute gift memberships to viewers based on their level of interaction with the creator channel. For example, loyal viewers who often interact with the channel are more likely to obtain gift membership. If you are selected as a gift member, you will see a personal instant chat message and receive an email. Visitors who receive gift memberships do not have to pay any fees, and creators receive the usual share of revenue from each transaction. It is worth noting that existing channel members are not eligible to receive complimentary membership.
YouTube wrote in a blog post: "we are not ready to make this service widely available, so we launched a beta version to get feedback and continue to develop features."
YouTube pointed out that gift membership uses the same 70 / 30 (creator / YouTube) income distribution, in which the share of income is calculated after app store fees and other expenses such as sales tax on IOS. Creators interested in testing this new feature can apply for access.
The test was launched because YouTube recently extended its "super thanks" feature to all eligible creators in the YouTube partner program. This feature allows viewers who want to express additional appreciation for the video to pay one of four preset amounts to the creator, ranging from $2 to $50. In addition, YouTube also has a monetization function of "super chat", which is a way for creators to make money from their live broadcast. There is also a "super stickers" feature for fans who want to show support and contact their favorite creators.