The feature of tagging has been a part of almost every social media platform. Users have developed a habit of tagging their friends on different posts and tweets. It is one of the most widely used features on social networks, allowing engagement of users in a better way. Mostly, a user can tag someone by adding the “@” symbol before their profile name or username.
However, YouTube, the globally recognized platform with billions of active users does not have the same feature. One is not able to tag another user in the comment section unless replying to their previous comment.
Why Is There No Tagging Feature on YouTube?
Since YouTube was acquired by Google LLC more than a decade ago, the platform has seen a series of systematic changes to make it more user-friendly and compatible with the current social network dynamics.
Not long ago, YouTube had the feature of tagging another user in a comment section but that has been pulled out. Why? It was basically an integration of the tech giant’s another social networking platform, Google+.
A user could tag a Google+ user in YouTube comment section since every user’s channel on YouTube was connected to their Google+ account. By tagging a user in the comment section, you would be tagging their Google+ profile.
The company hoped that Google+ would reach a tremendous level of success. It certainly carried the potential to compete with its rivals – Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc. Google gave their platform a good many years to test and made frequent updates to allow an enriched user experience. However, it failed to make an impact that Google originally hoped for. As a consequence, Google pulled the plug on Google+ during March of 2019 and it was officially shut down.
So, What About the Tagging Feature?
After shutting down Google+, many users reported that they could no longer tag someone in the YouTube comments section. It was obvious; in order to tag someone’s Google+ profile, Google+ had to be in existence.
However, it does not mean that a user cannot tag another user at all in the comments section. You can only do it in a reply to a comment in the thread. Here’s how –
- With every comment, there’s an option called “hit reply”.
- You will find that there is no feature to tag the user above. Even if you try entering “@”, it will not work.
- Once you click reply, it would automatically tag the user above.
- When you post the comment, the user would be tagged in the posted comment. Their username would be highlighted in blue.
This is the only way you can tag someone on YouTube.
Will YouTube Introduce Tagging Feature in the Near Future?
Many users expect YouTube to make a number of advanced changes to the platform. The video playback feature is always a part of discussions. The lack of a tagging feature is close to being a popular issue.
As of now, YouTube has not given a word regarding their plans to add a tagging feature. Certainly, many users continue to express their frustration and it does make the platform more complicated than other social networks.
However, the tech company based in Silicon Valley are always working to provide users with the utmost convenience and transform the user experience with different add-ons and integrated features. So, one can expect that plans for adding a tagging feature would be in the books for YouTube.
YouTube is still a one-of-a-kind platform for users to watch videos on almost any category and content creators to broadcast their productions. It grows popular with every passing day, multiplying its number of users each year.