YouTubing is a lucrative career. However, it’s not as easy as it sounds. You have to ensure what you publish are high-quality videos so they would attract views. Also, it would be best to consider how the algorithm would recommend your videos to viewers for new YouTube views.
That said, seeing your videos get lots of views and interaction feels rewarding. That’s unless most of the comments point out mistakes in the video. Maybe, you were misinformed about something. Then you talked about it in the video, not knowing you were a victim of falsehood.
There are different approaches you can take in that situation. But those solutions are not perfect; sometimes, they create more problems. Good news: YouTube has introduced a new feature that can help you.
How Content Creators Corrected Errors in a Video in the Past
Suppose there are errors in your videos before the new feature’s launch. One way to correct the error is to remove the video from your channel. Edit the said video, then re-upload it.
Others would not see the problems with that. They’ll think it’s easy to fix. However, content creators know the true horror of doing that. You lose all the watch time and engagement metrics when you take down a video. These factors affect your earnings from YouTube.
It would not hurt you much if you discovered the mistake early on. You would not lose much. However, it’s a painful blow when the video already has thousands of views.
In that case, most YouTubers tend to provide corrections in the comment section or the video description. They will leave a note that they will pin at the top if it’s in the comment section. It works, but not always. Some viewers check the comment section, and others avoid it because it may contain spoilers or maybe it’s toxic down there. As for the video description, people usually don’t bother checking it.
Additionally, it’s no use if you embed the video on another site. It’s common practice when you have a website related to the YouTube channel. For example, both of them are for your small business. Viewers from that website would not see the video description or the comment section of that video. So, they would not know about the corrections you made.
Video Corrections
YouTube has introduced a new feature called “Corrections.” Admittedly, it does not change things a lot. Consider it an add-on to the pinned comment/video description method.
What does this feature do, exactly? It allows you to inform your viewers there’s an error while they are watching the video. When the viewer reaches the timestamp in the video where there’s an error, Corrections will inform them about it. A card will appear at the top right corner of the video at the time of the error. The said card will then direct the viewer to the video description, where they’ll see the corrections. That’s if they click the card.
Please note that the card will only appear for the first Correction in the video. So, some viewers may not know they exist because they missed it. Also, that requires the viewers to check the description again after watching the video. They know there’s more than one Correction, but they don’t know at what part the second, third, and so on apply.
How To Add Corrections to Your Videos
Adding corrections to your YouTube videos is very easy. It is just like adding Chapters.
Go to YouTube Studio and select the video that contains the error/s you want to correct. Then, type the timestamp of the error and your Correction in the video description. As with Chapters, you can add multiple Corrections in one video. This is great because it allows you to retain your comprehensive marketing efforts including YouTube views you may have purchased already.
Please note that this feature may sometimes be unavailable. For instance, you don’t have access to Corrections if you have active strikes on your channel. Likewise, you can’t access it if your video is inappropriate to some viewers.
How Many Impacts Do Corrections Have?
YouTube introduced Corrections after listening to feedback from its content creators. Unfortunately, the solution they came up with also has many flaws. But it still helps because it makes the viewers aware that there are mistakes in the video and that corrections are available.
The problem with Corrections is the same problem notes in the comment section have. Some people would ignore the cards that appear on their screens. Yes, others would be curious and click it. But again, the cards only appear on the first timestamp.
So, here’s what could happen. The viewer clicks on the card to see the Corrections. They read it and are now aware of the error in the video. But they would not read the next corrections since they are not on those parts of the video yet. So, they’ll continue watching and check the corrections again once they get to the next error. That’s if they can remember the next Correction timestamp. But they may forget there are more corrections they need to check out. It’s worse when they have Autoplay on because it will immediately take them to the next video.
Others may read all the corrections before they unpause the video. But that ruins their immersion.
To conclude, Corrections make an impact, but not that big. A better solution is allowing content creators to replace the video without losing watch time and engagement.
But YouTube has a reason for not giving creators that capability. They can easily misuse that. Imagine uploading a video about dogs. Then, when it has lots of views, the content creator replaces it with a video containing misinformation.
That would hurt YouTube because regulators would be at its tail. Also, it would hurt the users. The algorithm would recommend the video, which makes the misinformation spread faster.
Takeaway
Introducing Corrections is not the perfect solution. But as of yet, no one can think of a perfect solution. So, having this feature is better than nothing. Content creators have to make do with it while we wait for YouTube to find a more effective way for creators to correct errors in their videos.
Date: April 13, 2023 / Categories: YouTube, / Author: Kam R
