YouTube comments cleanup attempt launched, giving trolls a timeout

YouTube Comments - Person using YouTube

Users whose abusive comments violate community guidelines will be suspended for 24 hours.

A new rollout has begun in an effort to help control the growing toxicity in YouTube comments, particularly in terms of those violating community guidelines.

The platform had previously used tools such as popups in the hopes of keeping interactions “respectful”.

The improvement the YouTube comments environment had previously taken more subtle approaches, but the company has now added a touch more assertiveness to their angle by applying warnings and timeouts.

YouTube Comments - Timeout

If abusive YouTube comments are detected and removed, the user who left them will be notified that they have violated the community guidelines. This is considered to be a warning. Should that same individual continue posting toxic or abusive comments, they will be issued a “timeout” on the platform. This will stop them from being able to interact with the videos they have bene watching for 24 hours.

If the user feels that the things they’ve said are not in violation of the community guidelines, they are able to share that feedback with the platform. That said, it is unclear as to whether this will result in an early release from the timeout.

Several attempts have been made to ease the abusive and toxic nature of YouTube Comments.

The platform is well known for having some of the worst comment sections, as many users feel it is appropriate to leave any message they want, regardless of how abusive or toxic it might be. It has come to the point – and has been this way for a while – that the interaction section below the videos is broadly considered to be a joke. This, on top of the overwhelming number of bot posts offering supplements, crypto, gambling, fake giveaways and more, and it is clearly an issue.

The platform has made other attempts to try to improve the situation, some having had better results than others. Before the rollout of this new feature, it underwent a limited trial and was found to be helpful. “Our testing has shown that these warnings/timeouts reduce the likelihood of users leaving violative comments again,” said YouTube in an official blog post.

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