If you have a channel on YouTube, you probably want it to be easily shareable. If you’re searching for certain channels, it would be better to use handles integrated in the URL. Now, Google is making a change for every YouTube user. Soon customizable handles will be available to everyone, though some users will get this feature sooner than the others.
Unlike the channel name, the handle is always unique, and that’s understood. It will also apply throughout YouTube pages, from the user’s main channel to the Shorts page. This handle can also be used for mentioning @someone in comments and descriptions (like it’s done on other social media), which will make promotion on YouTube easier.
As YouTube says in the blog post about this addition, it will let the creator better craft their identity, as the name is the biggest part of self-representation. The channel name will remain, and it won’t have to coincide with the handle or incorporate it. Yet it’s the handle that will appear in the URL and be used for referencing.
Every YouTuber will be notified when the possibility arrives. They will be able to create their handles in YouTube Studio. And we recommend not to linger with it. If you’re late for dinner, logically, you may revisit this Gmail feeling that comes when you try to come up with some new name for your email and discover that every name you invent is already taken.
Previously, handles could only be used by YouTubers who have reached a certain level of popularity. It required a certain number of subscribers and a certain threshold of viewing time. Now, the introduction of handles may motivate more YouTubers to promote their channels more seriously, having such a tool at their disposal.
If you have your own YouTube channel, have you already thought up the handle? Do you think it will be easier than, say, YouTube name shorteners? Share your expectations and thoughts with us in the comments!