It’s been less than a month since YouTube said it planned to let users post GIFs in the comments section. The time has come, and this is just the beginning of a gradual rollout.
Reddit is being inundated with r/YouTube reports of users seeing GIFs in the comments under videos on the YouTube app. The conversation around the ability to post GIFs under a video is louder than the feature itself. It looks like YouTube is pushing this update in a gradual rollout, since a number of posts online center around not having the feature, but seeing them posted by other users.
YouTube said this would be coming last month, noting that users would be able to post a GIF under videos and Shorts. Any GIF posted will come from a library within the app, according to the company’s announcement. It’s unclear if users will be able to upload their own animated files.
What’s also unknown is how gradual this rollout is. Plenty of users don’t have the option, and it isn’t limited to Premium subscribers, it seems. Fortunately, YouTube is making this available slowly for the time being. Once it gets going, it’s not hard to imagine what a YouTube with a GIF-filled comments section would look like. It’s possible one may never see text in a comment again.
YouTube also announced other features when it broke the news about its new GIF comment system. The YouTube app will let users set custom feeds based on quick prompts, and Ask YouTube will get additional features centered around product comparisons. All three features are slated for “this Fall,” so it might not be much longer before YouTube comment sections are filled with GIFs instead of text.
More on YouTube:
- YouTube announces Custom Feeds, GIF comments, and ’Your podcast lineup’
- YouTube’s contextual AI search rolls out to all users on Android and iOS in US
- YouTube bringing automatic background play to Android Automotive cars
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