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.

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

“Stay Q&A allows you to create and handle Q&A classes in dwell chat throughout your streams and Premieres proper from Stay Management Room (LCR),” YouTube stated in a weblog submit. “With Stay Q&A you possibly can extra simply construct group whereas replying to a collection of on-topic questions written by your viewers. This selection will seem alongside Stay Polls, one other smart 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 can be submitted via Stay Q&A are managed by the identical methods that permit creators to average dwell chat. It’s price noting that moderators can’t handle questions in Stay Q&As, however customers with Supervisor or Editor channel permissions will be capable of handle the Q&An inventory, which implies they’ll view the questions record, choose inquiries to reply and take away questions.

The launch of the brand new function comes as YouTube is seeking 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 permits viewers who wish to present further appreciation for a video to pay creators with one among 4 pre-set quantities, ranging between $2 and $50. The corporate additionally has a Tremendous Chat monetization function, which is a approach for creators to generate profits from their livestreams. There’s additionally a Tremendous Stickers function that’s aimed 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 may permit choose creators to ask a visitor to go dwell with them. At launch, creators will solely be capable of co-stream through a cellphone, because the function gained’t be obtainable on the desktop model of YouTube. The brand new function will initially solely be obtainable to a choose group of creators, however YouTube plans to increase co-streaming to extra creators sooner or later.