YouTube is perhaps the most popular video-sharing platform. Every day, countless new videos are uploaded by creators from all over the world. While there are no clear statistics on how many comments people leave on YouTube, it is known that they are numerous. Around 100 million people interact with videos every week through likes , shares and comments . Having comments on YouTube videos is generally considered good for content creators, but there is also a dark side to unwanted comments.
YouTube has tried to address this issue, but it's still a problem. As of Q4 2022, nearly two billion comments have been removed from the platform for violating its terms of service. In this guide, we'll look at how you can disable comments under videos on YouTube and how to change your comment settings in general.
See also: How to enable/disable Restricted mode on YouTube
How to change the default comment settings on your YouTube channel;
The default setting for comments on YouTube is to be enabled on all videos. There are only two cases where comments are disabled by default.
- Videos or channels that mark themselves as “made for kids” have comments disabled. This is not changing.
- Videos marked as “private” have comments disabled. However, if you need comments on your video and don’t want them to accidentally watch it, make it unlisted so it doesn’t appear in feeds or through YouTube’s search engine.
Additionally, users under 13 with a supervised YouTube account cannot view or interact with comments under a video.
If you don't fall into any of the above categories and want to change your default settings, follow these steps:
- Sign in to your account and click on profile picture in the top right corner of the YouTube homepage.
- From the drop-down menu, select YouTube Studio.
- Click on “Settings” in the lower left corner.
- From the Settings menu, click Community on the left side.
- Select the Defaults.
At this point, you can change the default comment settings on your videos.
There are several options:
- Allow all comments: allows anyone to post comments in the corresponding section below your videos.
- Hold potentially inappropriate comments for review : Uses an automated algorithm to guess which comments may be spam or contain inappropriate content . Holds these comments for you to review later.
- Hold all comments for review: requires review of all comments before publishing.
- Disable comments: prevents anyone from posting comments on your videos.
Select one of the options above. The changes you make apply to new videos you publish and are not retroactive. These options are only available in the browser version of YouTube Studio, not in the Android or iPhone.
See also: YouTube: Will it implement a stricter policy against ad blockers?
How to change comment settings on individual YouTube videos?
If you don't want to change your comment settings in general, you can do so for specific videos only. If you disable YouTube comments in general, you risk alienating a significant portion of your audience and taking away the opportunity for them to engage with your content. So it's best to disable them on specific videos, if you feel it's necessary.
Change video comment settings in the browser
- In YouTube Studio, click Content from the menu on the left.
- Click the thumbnail or title of the video for which you want to change the comment settings.
- On the Video details page , scroll down and click Show more .
- Scroll down until you reach the Comments and ratings.
- At this point, you'll see the same four options we mentioned above, except that their scope is limited to the current video.
Change video comment settings in the YouTube app
- From the YouTube home screen, tap Library in the bottom right corner.
- Select your videos.
- Tap the ⋮ next to the thumbnail of the video for which you want to change the comment settings.
- Select Edit (next to the pencil icon).
- Scroll down and tap on the Comments.
- Again, you will have the same four options regarding the appearance of comments.
See also: Google Playables: Play games via YouTube
Change video comment settings in the YouTube Studio app
- From the main control panel, select Content from the bottom ribbon menu.
- Tap the ⋮ next to the thumbnail of the video for which you want to change the comment settings.
- Select Edit video.
- Tap on the More options section towards the bottom of the screen.
- Tap anywhere in the Comments.
Comments on YouTube videos can have both positive and negative effects, depending on how viewers and creators. In general, it's a good idea to have them enabled to interact with your audience. However, in some cases, you may want to turn them off. By following the instructions above, you can change your comment settings based on your needs.
Source: www.androidpolice.com
