Control Your Comments: YouTube Introduces Pause Feature for Video Comments

YouTube has introduced a new comment moderation setting called “Pause.” This feature allows creators and moderators to stop viewers from adding new comments while still keeping existing comments on videos. Instead of completely disabling comments or manually reviewing them, creators can temporarily pause comments until they have time to filter out trolls and negativity. The Pause option can be found in the video-level comment settings in the upper right-hand corner of the comments panel on both the watch page in the app and in YouTube Studio. When Pause is activated, viewers will see a notification under the video indicating that all comments have been paused, including those that have already been published.

The Pause feature has been in testing since October, and according to YouTube, users in the experiment group reported feeling less overwhelmed by managing a large number of comments and having more flexibility. Additionally, YouTube has renamed some of its comment moderation settings to make them easier to understand. The new names, such as “On,” “None,” “Hold All,” and “Off,” are more straightforward. Other settings, like “Basic” and “Strict,” hold potentially inappropriate or harmful comments for review.

In other news, YouTube is also testing a new feature that provides a summary of topics discussed in the comments.