YouTube is testing a new feature where you can donate money to your favourite creators.
Is it really possible to have a fan that likes you so much that would actually donate money? Most people know that once you hit a certain target on YouTube you can start making money, personally I wouldn’t donate money to a YouTube creator because my assumption would be that he/she has more money than me anyways. However, YouTube has created a new option known as ‘applause’ where fans will be able to purchase an applause animation which they could then allocate to approved YouTube videos.
Basically when a fan taps on applaud they donate 200 shillings and 70 % of that goes to the creator while YouTube take the rest.
As explained by YouTube:
You may be able to buy Viewer applause on participating creators’ videos and show your support for YouTube channels. When you buy Viewer applause, you’re purchasing a one-time “clapping” animation that will only be shown to you over the top of the video. More than 100,000 channels have received this new applause button and some streams are earning more than $400 per minute as fans reach out to creators to say hello, send congratulations, or just to connect.
So far YouTube has been using Super Chat which helps to monetize your channel through the YouTube Partner Program.
These features let your viewers purchase chat messages that stand out and, in some cases, pin them to the top of a chat feed. The whole idea is to create an additional revenue opportunity for all YouTube creators. However this new feature has not been tested in most places but only certain countries in Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, and USA. To make a purchase, a user will need to start watching a video on youtube.com (desktop) and then click Applaud under the video. A popup will appear, showing the cost of the applause in the user’s country or region. The user will then need to complete the purchase by following the on-screen instructions. No personal details will be shared with the creator or the public about purchases.
However, this all sounds too good to be true. Personally I would never donate money for a simple applause unless it was to get a visitation with my favourite creator, would you buy into this?