Comments

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“	The comments section is one of the features that makes YouTube so unique. There, you can get direct feedback from your viewers, answer their questions, and overall create a community and conversation around your videos.	”
―YouTube Comments Overview

A YouTube comment

Comments are a function that is used on YouTube enabling members to post their statements, opinions, facts, questions or remarks on the video or channel. This function is used to put a comment in the bottom of a video. They are a function that can be enabled or disabled by YouTube or the creator of the video.

Function

An Arabic-speaking user commenting "وللة لوتعرفين عراقي لعلقل ج" (For god if you knew the Iraqi mind, E) (source)

The YouTube comment function exists as way to get feedbacks from viewers, answer their questions and so on. Comments can be liked, disliked and replied to by others. The creator themself can comment and reply to other people's comments. They can also interact by using the heart icon. When someone "Hearts" (officially known as Love) a comment to show their appreciation, viewers will see their avatar with a small red heart. The creator can also pin a single comment which can be from the creator or any other commenter. This single comment will always be on top of the comment section and will be highlighted.

Deactivated comments

Example of a video with paused comments.

Comments on YouTube videos may be turned off due to various reasons, including:

• The video owner selected the setting to disable comments in YouTube Studio.
• YouTube may have turned off comments on some videos for safety reasons, like to protect minors.
• The channel or video’s audience is set as "made for kids."
• Comments on automatically generated Art Tracks are turned off.
• Turning Restricted Mode on.
• Comments are paused.

History

The First Comment on YouTube Ever

Comments were not part of the platform's initial offering, because of YouTube's beginnings as a dating site. They would only become a feature in mid-2005, when YouTube pivoted to becoming a video platform.

The earliest comment ever posted to YouTube is thought to have been posted by a user named Marco Cassé, who wrote "LOL!!!!!!" on June 14, 2005. It was rumored to have been removed. A prior misconception has led people to believe that the first ever comment was posted by user COBALTGRUV on July 12, 2005, on Jawed's video, Me at the zoo.

Google+ integration

Main article: Google+

The Bob Army, originally a internet meme from mid-2008, was repurposed to serve the cause against Google+

New commenting system powered by Google+

By 2011, Google+ was directly integrated onto YouTube so it can streamline the site. But, when this event happened, the Bob Army copypasta was created by users texting a stick figure next to a tank, in which they encourage the reader to copy and paste the message in the comments in order to speak out against G+.

In November 6, 2013, Google+ introduced a new Comment system that put all the replies inside in comments and responded to this, now forcing users to have a G+ account in order to comment on videos. It received major backlash, started as a beta version in September 24, 2013. that one of the founders of YouTube, Jawed Karim, came back to Google just to ask, in his own words: "Why the f**k do I need a Google+ account to comment on a video?"

The total of comment replies were 500, but later was increased to 750 replies around January 2024.

Spam and Deception

User commented a period or a letter, while the user replying commented a letter and a number.

User commented emoji spam with gibberish, same with the replier.

Comments with malicious or spam intent often appear on videos. Most comments that are meant to anger or scam others are not real people, instead they are part of a network of bots.

Scams

Main Article: YouTube Scams Scam comments are prevalent on YouTube, often impersonating popular YouTubers such as Mr. Beast, or promising rewards such as money or companionship.

Spam

Main Article: Spam Spam comments are comments intentionally copied across multiple videos, or that make no sense; an example for the latter is the keysmashing spam often seen on child-targeted videos. Spam comments also utilize copypastas, a specific block of text which is 'copy and pasted' across multiple comment sections, hence the name.