Comments, posts and your first small community

Every early comment is a person who chose you

YouTube's creator tips say that hearting a comment is a quick way to build fan loyalty and show viewers you value them. Replying shows viewers that you are listening and interested in what they think ^[1].

When you heart, pin or reply to a comment, the commenter may get a notification, depending on their settings. Likes and dislikes on comments are anonymous, and nobody is told when you dislike their comment ^[2].

On a small channel you can often reply to every comment. Use the viewer's name, answer what they asked, and reply in the language they wrote in, whether that is Marathi, Hindi, Hinglish or English. End some replies with a small question, such as "Did you try it with jaggery?", so the conversation can continue.

One pinned question

Pinning puts one comment at the top of your comments. YouTube's tips say pinning your own comment is a good way to ask viewers a question, clarify something from the video, tease a moment, or thank them for watching ^[1].

To pin, your channel needs access to advanced features, a set of extra YouTube tools [s3,s4]. Only one comment can be pinned at a time, so a new pin replaces the old one ^[3]. Only the channel owner can pin. Your moderators cannot ^[5].

Lesson 6 explains how advanced features are unlocked. Write a fresh pinned question for each video, such as "Which should I cook next: thalipeeth or sabudana khichdi?" Two clear choices are easy to answer on a phone. No advanced features yet? Ask the same question out loud near the end of your video.

Choose how much YouTube holds back

When comments are on, you choose a comment moderation level for the video ^[6]:

Check what was held

Basic and Strict use AI to decide what to hold, so they may not always get it right. Held comments stay in YouTube Studio for up to 60 days and are not public unless you approve them. You can approve, remove or ignore each one ^[6].

To review them, open the Held tab of the Comments page in YouTube Studio ^[6].

Basic is a sensible start for a small channel. Check the Held tab once or twice a week, so a kind comment never waits for days.

Blocked words, and hiding someone quietly

You can keep a list of blocked words and phrases. Comments that contain or closely match them may be held for up to 60 days, unless they come from someone on your approved users list. You can also hold comments that contain links ^[6].

Blocked words, hidden users and link blocking apply to all your videos and your channel home page. You cannot set them for just one video ^[6].

Add common abusive words in Marathi, Hindi and English. Add each one in Devanagari and in Roman letters, plus the usual misspellings, because people type both ways. Holding links also catches many of the spam and scam comments you met in lesson 4.

To hide a person, select More next to their comment, then Hide from channel. They are not notified. Their comments, live chats and posts stop showing on your channel, and they cannot make clips of your videos ^[7].

Anyone with a YouTube channel can be your comment moderator. Every moderator can hold comments for your review and hide users, and managing moderators can also manage your blocked words. Moderators do not get access to your channel in YouTube Studio ^[5].

A trusted sibling or friend who watches every video can be a good first moderator. Hide quietly instead of arguing in public.

Posts and polls: no subscriber minimum

Posts let you share text, images, GIFs, polls, quizzes, music and video ^[8].

YouTube lists the Posts tab as a Standard feature. A channel gets it as soon as it is created, as long as it has no active Community Guidelines strikes. It comes with a limited daily limit, and verifying your phone number raises that limit ^[4].

Posts are not available on channels set as made for kids, or on supervised accounts ^[8].

A poll can have up to 4 answers, and an image post can hold up to 10 images. You can schedule a post for later. YouTube also limits how many posts a channel can make in 24 hours ^[9].

On a computer, sign in to YouTube, select Create, then Create post, and choose a poll ^[9].

In the YouTube app on a phone, tap Create, then Post, and choose a poll.

A poll is an easy first post. Ask viewers to choose between two video ideas, in the language they use. Then make the winning idea, and say in the video that they chose it.

Collabs: look for a fit, not a big number

YouTube's collaboration tips say to think beyond subscriber count. Aligned audiences, growth potential and the other creator's personality all matter ^[10].

The tips also say to keep your outreach personal and brief, and to send it through the contact method the other creator prefers ^[10].

Before you reach out, watch a few of their videos. In your message, use their name and give a short outline of the video idea. Write a fresh note for each creator instead of copying and pasting the same one to many.

After you film, cross-promote the collab on both channels, with a video uploaded to each channel ^[10].

YouTube's Collaborations feature lets you invite several creators onto a long video or a Short. YouTube aims to recommend the video to the audiences of everyone involved. The earnings go to the channel that posted the video and are not split ^[11].

The number of collaborators you can invite has changed over time, so check it in YouTube Studio when you send invites. Agree in one short message who films, who edits and which channel posts. No collab can promise views or subscribers, not even one with a big channel, and neither can this course.

Swapping subscriptions is not a collab. As lesson 4 explained, YouTube's fake engagement policy bans offering to subscribe to someone only if they subscribe back, called sub4sub ^[12].

When it is more than rudeness

If someone makes specific threats against you and you feel unsafe, YouTube says to report it directly to your local police. If you find many videos or comments from one channel that you want to report, you can report the whole channel ^[13].

Before you hide or remove anything serious, take screenshots that show the words, the channel name and the date. Do not reply to threats. Tell someone you trust at home.