YouTube has launched ‘chat replay’ and location tagging, adding a sense of ‘as-if-you-were-there’ to archived copies of earlier live streams.

Where the heckles?

YouTube creators can now tag live streams with location tags that will be searchable and browsable. It’s self-explanatory and unsurprising.

Also, viewer live chat connected to the video will be saved for posterity. That means viewers will be able to see comments appear in order, as if they were watching the whole package live.

How it helps

For video consumers, location tags let them find nearby creators and get a genuine sense of a stream’s origin. From the creator perspective, location tagging is a new way to get discovered.

Live chat replay increases the sense of engagement, giving people a chance to respond to an archived live stream, even after it’s aired.

Catch-up with FB

Browsing live streams by location has been available on Facebook since early 2016. They’ve had a chat replay equivalent for some time too.

While it’s not exactly surprising to see YouTube copycatting the big blue ‘f’, it’s additional confirmation that Facebook has totally arrived as a real peer at the top tier of social video.

If YouTube still the top priority for social video release, or is Facebook takings the cake?

Copy Transmission is a Melbourne-based agency :: Better Brands. Loud & Clear.