YouTube’s Community tab is now open to all creators, regardless of subscriber count. Previously, this was only available to creators with more than 500 subscribers, but a recent change in policy now makes it possible for all YouTube content creators to enjoy this benefit.
The announcement was made via a post on the YouTube help community where the company encouraged all its creators to take advantage of this once exclusive feature and use it to form closer relationships with their viewers. Community Posts have always been a great way for creators to connect with their subscribers and get feedback on their content. It is also a great way to promote upcoming videos and other projects.
Creators that would like to begin using the Community tab right away will need to first sign up for advanced features by verifying their phone number and ID. This can be done from YouTube Studio’s Settings > Channel > Feature eligibility > Intermediate features > Verify phone number. Once the phone number is verified, creators can then sign up for Advanced features following the same menu prompts. However, the advanced features will require the upload of valid identification or a video to confirm identity.
Once the feature is enabled, creators simply need to go to their YouTube Studio and click on the “Community” tab. They can then start posting content and their subscribers will be able to see the posts in the Community tab on the creator’s channel page.
In the announcement, YouTube also mentioned that this feature was highly requested last year by creators using the “Send feedback” link or by tweeting directly at the @TeamYouTube handle. Though not explicitly said, I believe one can assume the decision to open up this feature was largely due to that. The Team YouTube twitter handle has been very responsive with the community and it’s great to see YouTube taking the necessary steps to keep its creators and subscribers more engaged within their respective communities.