Important points
- YouTube Jewels gives viewers a new way to support creators through gifts during live streams.
- Creators can earn rubies by receiving gifts, which can be converted into cash.
- Jewels will first roll out in the US, offering bonuses to creators for the first three months.
YouTube is a great platform, especially for people who want to create videos and share them with the world. For many, it's just a hobby, while many creators balance it with their day jobs. But for some people, YouTube is all they have, and that can be a big problem if the paycheck isn't consistent. Over the past few years, YouTube has made significant changes to the way it pays creators, but despite its efforts to increase revenue, in most cases, ad revenue isn't where it once was.
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Observed only in Europe…for now
That said, YouTube is introducing new ways for creators to earn money, and before the end of the year, users can now show their support for their favorite creators in a whole new way thanks to gifts. It seems like it will be. This feature will begin rolling out in the United States in the coming weeks and will primarily be available for vertical live stream video.
A new source of income for creators
YouTube is calling this new feature “Jewels,” and it comes bundled with a variety of gifts. These gifts include a variety of animations that can be sent to creators during vertical live streams. The brand emphasizes that users don't have to buy one gift each time to show their appreciation to their favorite creators, as they come in bundles. Of course, the price of Jewels has not yet been revealed and will likely vary by region, but this could be a more affordable way for users to send gifts.
Creators earn when their subscribers or viewers use these new gifts during their streams. Once it is completed, the creator will earn “Rubies” which can be converted into cash. It all sounds a bit complicated, but honestly, that's probably the point here. This is because taking cash and converting it into some form of digital token or currency makes it difficult for the person paying to actually know how much it is. Expenses. Of course, that won't stop creators from trying it out, and it certainly won't stop avid viewers from trying it out.
This is especially true since YouTube is currently offering bonuses to creators for the first three months of Jewels availability. Of course, this is nothing new, and other platforms and services utilize something similar. So in addition to joining the community for a monthly fee or donating during live streams, users now have one more option to support creators.
As previously mentioned, Jewels will be rolling out eligible creators in the US over the next few weeks. Viewers will be able to purchase Jewels through the YouTube app and use them in vertical live streams.