YouTube is testing time-specific emoji reactions for users to respond to specific moments in videos 

The ‘thumbs up’ and ‘thumbs down’ buttons on YouTube are one of the site’s key measures of engagement, but sometimes a video demands more nuanced feedback.

Now YouTube has announced it is testing a new feature called ‘timed reactions’, which allows users to share a reaction, such as a smiley face or confetti emoji, at a precise moment in a video.

Users can get a feel for how other viewers are reacting by looking at a dedicated reaction panel in the comment section of each video.

This will display anonymised emoji reactions by the moment, in a similar way to Facebook Live or Twitch.

YouTube is piloting timed reactions with a small number of channels to start with, but will expand the feature depending on the reception. 

Users will have an array of emoji reactions to choose from, including the crying laughing face, a heart, the shocked face, the celebration party poppers, the 100 sign, a question mark, the idea light bulb and a screaming cat. 

As well as giving viewers a new way to interact with videos, the timed reactions feature will allow YouTube creators to get more detailed user feedback, such as which parts are the most impactful and which jokes landed or bombed. 

Users will have an array of emoji reactions to choose from, including the crying laughing face, a heart, the shocked face, the celebration party poppers, the 100 sign, a question mark, the idea light bulb and a screaming cat.

‘If you’re watching a video that is part of this experiment, you can react and see crowd reactions by opening the comment section of the video and tapping into the reaction panel,’ said Meaghan, a representative from Team YouTube, in a blog post.

‘The test will also show you which moments other viewers are reacting to (which will be anonymized – we won’t show who sent each reaction). 

‘We’re testing multiple sets of reactions and will add or remove reactions based on how the experiment goes!’  

Google often trials new features on YouTube, and it should be noted that not all of them are rolled out to the masses. 

The company is also reportedly experimenting with allowing YouTube users to time their comments to specific points in a video, and hiding the ‘dislike’ button.  

YouTube adds thousands of FREE TV shows and movies including The Sandlot, Legally blonde and There Will Be Blood as company moves to compete with streaming giants 

This is the latest move from the Google-owned social video giant, as it tries to compete in an increasingly crowded, and competitive market

 YouTube has started streaming more than 4,000 television episodes and hundreds of movies, including the shows Hell’s Kitchen and Heartland, as well as movies like The Sandlot, Legally Blonde and There Will Be Blood.

All of these titles will be on the company’s website for free in the U.S. – though customers wanting to stream them will have to watch advertisements.

This is the latest move from the Google-owned social video giant, as it tries to compete in an increasingly crowded and competitive streaming market.

The programs will be accessible via YouTube using smart televisions, mobile devices or web browsers. 

The move also comes just as Google – which is another company owned by parent Alphabet – confirmed it would stop selling television shows and movies through its Play Store, leaving it with only apps and games.