YouTube has announced an expansion of its custom feeds option, which enables users to create multiple personalized video feeds that can be pinned to their Home display, enabling them to explore more of their interests in the app.
In November, YouTube launched the first stage of its custom feeds test, through which users can enter a basic prompt to create a feed of content that’s more specifically aligned with their interests.
YouTube expanded this test to more users in May, and now, it’s looking to provide additional ways for users to build multiple custom feeds.
With this latest update, users with the feeds option will be able to switch between multiple feeds along the top of the Home page. The system supports up to eight active feeds per user at a time, and inactive prompts will expire after a few weeks.
Users will also be able to edit their prompts in the text box at the top of each feed in order to adjust the focus of the recommendations in that listing.
The approach, which leans into the trend of people using conversational prompts in artificial intelligence tools, is designed to create a more compelling user experience, better aligning YouTube’s content display with each user’s personal preference and expanded interests.
Which YouTube clearly thinks is a better option than providing its own algorithmic content display based on user activity, because it also noted that custom feeds will replace standard topic chips at the top of the Home feed in the mobile app.
It’s interesting to see an app moving away from its own algorithmic signals in favor of direct input from users, especially because data shows that algorithmic matching has driven massive engagement gains for most social apps.
YouTube is trying out another approach, which will combine explicit and implicit signals to potentially drive a more compelling feed display.
The platform said its updated feeds experiment is being rolled out in the U.S. to signed-in viewers on mobile (Android and iOS) and desktop.
