YouTube launches Instagram-like user handles

Youtube has announced that accounts will now have unique handles that will show up on channel pages and Shorts.

Users now have the option of being easily able to find content creators by their usernames and tag them in comments, community posts, video descriptions, and other interactive parts of YouTube.

Handles will be available along with channel names, which have been the only way to find a YouTube channel or user in the past. But unlike channel names, handles will work across the whole platform, which Google says will help creators build a stronger presence and brand on YouTube.

From this week on, YouTube users will get handles gradually, according to a company blog post. The company says it is slowly adding support for handles because each one will be different and every YouTube channel will have one.

YouTube says that users will be notified when they can choose a handle name. The blogpost says that a channel's eligibility for a handle will depend on its overall presence on the platform, the number of subscribers it has, and whether or not it is active.

If a user has already made a custom URL for their YouTube channel, the URL extension will be used as their handle name by default. The company says that users can change this once they get a notification that they can claim their desired handle name.

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