YouTube Starts Testing Membership Gifting

YouTube has begun testing gifted memberships for select channels.

The video-sharing platform's take on Twitch subscriptions lets viewers offer financial support to creators in return for perks like loyalty badges and custom emoji.

A beta version of Channel Memberships Gifting is currently open only to a "small group of creators," but will be expanded to more users over the course of several months. Bear in mind that you'll need to already meet the network's minimum eligibility requirements to enable channel membership.

Qualifying channels will initially only be able to gift memberships to desktop viewers, with mobile access expected as part of the eventual full feature launch. Existing channel members cannot receive a gifted membership.

"With Memberships Gifting, your channel members can buy a set number of channel memberships [five, 10, 20] in a single purchase, that YouTube will 'gift' out to other viewers in your live stream," YouTube explained. Those folks get one month of free premiums, while the creator receives their usual revenue share from each transaction.

Gift memberships can be purchased by clicking the dollar sign icon next to the live chat, which YouTube then distributes based on how much viewers interact with your channel. The most loyal fans, who watch and engage with your content regularly, are more likely to earn a bonus. Recipients are notified via a personal live chat message and email.

"We're not quite ready to make this widely available just yet, so we're launching a beta to get feedback and continue developing features," YouTube said. In the meantime, interested parties can sign up online for access to Memberships Gifting as it rolls out more widely "over the next few months."

:story: PC Magazine