Fake accounts on YouTube are also spreading spam and false information for a long time. Many of these people claim are well YouTubers in an attempt to get users to reveal private information. YouTube is already trying hard to get rid of these accounts but has finally found a way around the problem.
Now, the video-sharing service has “handles,” just like Twitter, Discord, and dozens of other social apps. These “handles” are a YouTuber’s personal identification number, making it easy to tell them apart.
Just like “@” is a unique identifier for each Twitter user, “pewdiepie” is PewDiePie’s alone.
YouTubers who want to be “immediately and consistently recognizable” will have their handles show up on both their channels and their Shorts. It says that each handle is “really unique to each channel”. So that creators can build on their own presence and identity on YouTube.
Handles are available for more than just identifying or branding someone. For example, they can make it easier to mention someone in comments, community posts, or video descriptions.
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YouTube says that creators may get notified “over the next month” when they choose a handle, but the upgrade hasn’t occurred for fake accounts yet. Those with a custom URL for their channel will automatically use that as their default handle, but they will notify YouTube Studio with the option to change it.
The company has did explain that a number of factors, such as “total YouTube presence, subscriber count. Whether the channel is active or dormant,” is used to choose the handles.