YouTube Launches @username Handles To Assist Drive Visitors
YouTube, an online video-sharing and social media platform is rolling out handles and supporting @username format tagging on channel pages, in Shorts, and in comments to help YouTubers drive more traffic to their channel.
Part of the email sent by Google to YouTubers, reads:
Weāre writing to let you know that over the coming weeks YouTube will be introducing handles to make it easier for members of the community to find and connect with each other. Your handle will be unique to your channel and will be how people mention you in comments, community posts, and more.
Here is what you need to know:
“Weāre gradually rolling out the ability to choose a handle for all channels over the coming weeks, and you will receive another email and a notification in YouTube Studio when youāre able to choose yours. In most cases, if you already have a personalized URL for your channel, weāve reserved this for you as your handle. If you want a different handle from the one weāve reserved, you can change it. If you donāt already have a personalized URL today, youāll also be able to choose a handle for your handles
“Starting on November 14, 2022, if you havenāt yet selected a handle for your channel, YouTube will automatically assign you a handle, which you can change in YouTube Studio if youād like.
Last week, YouTube announced that it was introducing handles for people to easily find and engage with creators and each other on YouTube. Every channel will have a unique handle, making it easier for fans to discover content and interact with creators they love.
So, YouTube has started informing creators when they can choose a handle for their channel. In most cases, if a channel already has a personalized URL, that will automatically become their default handle, or they can opt to change the handle for their channel as soon as the notification in YouTube Studio comes through.
When a creator chooses their handle, YouTube will also create a matching URL (ex: youtube.com/@handle) so creators can easily direct people to their content when theyāre not on YouTube. If a channel already has a personalized URL, thereās no need to update links: theyāll automatically be redirected to the new, handle-based URL to create a better, more unified presence for creators on YouTube.
If you are a creator, you need to start thinking of what your handle will be. Hope it is not taken before it is time for you to create yours.