How a simple thank you on Youtube can mean cash
The video platform Youtube has introduced a new tool that creators can use to make money. It is a right and important step for many Youtubers. And users also benefit from it.
Everything great? After Super Chat and Super Sticker, YouTube users now have a new feature, Super Thanks, that opens up completely new possibilities for creators. With the help of Super Thanks, viewers of Youtube videos can not only express a big thank you to the authors in the literal sense of the word, but also add a monetary donation to this thank you.
So far, the way for producers to get their first euro on YouTube has been quite a long one. For example, if you want to profit financially from advertisements before your own video starts, you have to meet two requirements on your channel: First, your videos must have been viewed at least 4,000 hours in the past twelve months; and second, the channels must have at least 1,000 subscribers.
The way up is also so difficult because YouTube also pushes those channels with which a creator and thus the platform itself can earn money. This creates a two-class society in which it is not so easy to get from one side (without sales) to the other (with sales) using this method.
This situation will change a lot with Super Thanks, which so far can only be used in a beta function by individual YouTube partners. In the future, on channels for which the new feature is activated, another button will appear under the videos, right next to the Like and Dislike buttons. If you click on the heart with the dollar sign next to the word “Thanks”, you can choose between two, five, ten and 50 euros and use these amounts to thank the author of the video with another click of the mouse.
The incentive for the user is not primarily the animation that he gets to see after the donation, but rather to be highlighted as a donor in the comment bar below the video. Users who have said thank you with a small or a slightly larger amount receive additional attention. In addition, the creator can respond to his donors and thus enter into an exchange with those who underscore their serious interest in the content with their money.
The creator benefits in two ways. On the one hand, in addition to the recognition, he also receives the money, which means that YouTube content can be monetized even better in the future; on the other hand, and this aspect should not be underestimated, the donations are an indicator of valuable content: If you have a lot of highlighted comments under your video, you can prove that the content presented there is of great value.
Of course, YouTube does not introduce this function entirely unselfishly. The platform is designed to play advertisements there that customers have to pay money for. But for this, Youtube is always dependent on content that creates direct benefits. The Super Thanks feature, which makes paying small posts very easy as thanks for useful free videos, motivates creators to produce high-quality posts that in turn attract a large number of viewers.
And, don’t forget: 30 percent of sales stay with YouTube, the rest goes to the producer. The platform itself is the big winner of its own new feature.
Regardless of this, Youtube is developing in the right direction. After all, so far only one in ten videos has actually conveyed useful information, the rest is about pure entertainment. There is nothing to be said against that. But: Videos from the field of education in particular often move into niches in which the aforementioned criteria for monetization through advertising cannot be achieved. It is all the more important that small, but possibly high-quality communities will in future have the opportunity to thank creators for useful content and thus encourage them to continue their offerings.
Super Thanks can definitely make Youtube gain more weight as an educational medium. In addition, smaller creators can move even closer together with their community: The donations and the highlighted comments open a new way for mutual appreciation, in which those benefit who offer credible content and have built a loyal community.
While the other “super” features Super Chat and Super Sticker were only aimed at livestreams, Super Thanks are distributed to regular YouTube videos. The function is currently still in a beta version. Youtube has written to members of its partner program and given them the opportunity to test the feature – all you have to do is activate it in the Youtube studio. The “big thank you” cannot be used for private and unlisted videos, for children’s videos and for live streams and premieres.
The new function has the potential to further develop the platform – and also gives smaller Youtubers the chance to earn some money with videos. This should increase the quality of the offers on the platform.
