YouTube releases new visual updates, engagement features and mental health & wellbeing tools

Yesterday, YouTube officially announced that some new visual updates are being rolled out on the platform globally. And along with this, the company has also released mental health & wellbeing tools built especially for teens.

New visual updates

• Updated video player: A cleaner and more immersive video player is launched across web, mobile, and TV devices. This includes updated controls and new icons to make the viewing experience more visually satisfying while obscuring less content.
• Improvements to Skip feature: The double-tap to skip feature is updated to make it more modern and less intrusive to your video-watching experience.
• Seamless transitions on mobile: When you are on your mobile device, you will notice a more seamless experience as you move between tabs with improved motion design.

New engagement features

• Custom likes on select content: On select videos, the like button animation will receive a custom, dynamic visual treatment based on the content you are viewing. For instance, liking a music video will trigger an animated musical note.
• Modern video saving: Saving videos to your Watch Later list or adding them to playlists is now smoother and more visual. The refreshed design simplifies the process and makes saving a video easier.
• Comment Threading for Easier Conversations: A structured system is introduced for comment replies. This threading system is designed to provide a more focused reading experience within the replies panel.

New Mental Health & Wellbeing tools

When seeking out age-appropriate information on common mental health and well-being topics like depression, anxiety, ADHD, and eating disorders, teens will now see a shelf of videos from trusted sources. This is done to make it easier for teens to find credible information that is tailored to their developmental stage of life.

In countries including the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, France, and Australia, these shelves will start rolling out for teens in the coming weeks.

For a video to be eligible for inclusion in the shelf, the content needs to be evidence-based, teen-centric, and engaging. To meet these requirements, YouTube has worked with organizations from around the world that specialize in providing mental health and well-being information for teens to produce the videos.

• The National Alliance for Eating Disorders has developed content featuring leading experts, researchers, and individuals with lived experience to address common questions like, “What do you say when you think someone may be struggling with an eating disorder?”
• The Jed Foundation worked with leading YouTube creators to develop a series called ‘Mind Matters’ where experts sit down with creators to talk about topics like ADHD, anxiety, and depression.
• The Child Mind Institute has been dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families experiencing mental health issues, and is another one of our partners in this endeavor.