These platforms fall under the umbrella of social media because they allow users to consume content, connect with others, and build communities. While it’s clear that these platforms are social media, there’s one that remains up in the air: YouTube.
So, is YouTube social media?
On this page, we’ll answer all your questions, including:
Keep reading to learn more!
Is YouTube social media?
Yes. YouTube is considered a social media platform because you can share content with “followers” (subscribers) and foster communities through interaction and engagement.
4 types of social media: Where does YouTube fall?
You have an answer to “Is YouTube social media,” but what kind of social media is it?
There are four main types of social media platforms:
- Networking sites: Most social media platforms fall under the networking category. These platforms focus on helping people build connections to one another. LinkedIn is a prominent networking site that enables people to connect with other professionals.
- Communicative sites: Communicative social media sites allow people to message one another, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Video-sharing sites: As the name implies, video-sharing social networks focus on promoting video content. A major video-sharing platform right now is TikTok.
- Social discussion sites: Social discussion sites focus on having deeper and more engaging conversions, like Reddit or Quora.
Some social media platforms may fit under more than one category, like Facebook or Instagram. For YouTube, it falls under the video-sharing site category.
What makes YouTube social media?
Now that we’ve answered the question “is YouTube considered social media,” let’s dive into what qualifies YouTube to fit under the social media category.
YouTube is considered social media because:
- It has interactive content
- It offers free user-generated content
- You can build a community
- You can run ads
Let’s look in more detail at these four reasons YouTube is social media:
1. Interactive content
On the YouTube social media platform, you can interact with content. YouTube allows users to like and comment on content on the platform. People can have conversations about video content within the comments section.
This ability to interact with content is like other social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram. You can comment on and like or react to content people post on those platforms.
Additionally, YouTube enables you to subscribe to a person’s channel. When you subscribe to their channel, you get updates and notifications when they post new content. This behavior is similar to following someone on Facebook or Twitter, where you see updates from companies in your feed.
Due to these features, YouTube is social media.
2. Free user-generated content
Is YouTube considered social media? Yes, if you look at the user-generated content aspect. Social media platforms consist of content that the users make on the platform. Whether those users are businesses, celebrities, or your average Joe, user-generated content powers the platform.
On YouTube, people create and share video content with other users. People post their how-to videos, recipes, and humorous videos for everyone to see. And all this content is free to view.
As a result, YouTube qualifies as social media because it allows users to share free content with one another.
3. Sense of community
The YouTube social media platform, like other social platforms, offers a sense of community. Social media platforms enable people to connect with one another, have conversations, and foster communities. Platforms like Facebook, for example, have groups people can join to talk with people who have similar interests.
In addition, platforms like TikTok and Instagram have influencers that help build community.
On YouTube, the same follows true. YouTube has hundreds of influencers that build communities where people with similar interests can connect. From beauty to action figure collecting to gaming, people can find their niche and join communities to foster relationships with others on the platform.
4. Ability to run ads
So, is YouTube social media? Yes, because you can advertise on this platform just like any other social media platform.
YouTube ads, which run through Google’s ad platform, enable you to reach people as they’re viewing content on the platform. You can run them at the beginning of videos, in the middle, on the sidebar of a YouTube page, and more.
While your ads may not appear in the feeds of interested users like they do with other platforms, you still can target interested leads that haven’t discovered you yet.
How to master the YouTube social media platform for your business
If you want to take advantage of the YouTube social media platform, we can help you get started! Here are four quick tips to help you maximize results with your YouTube content:
1. Create content your audience wants to see
If you want to see success with YouTube social media, you need to create content your audience wants to see. Content creators upload over 500 hours of content on YouTube every minute. With thousands of creators continually uploading new content to the platform, you must ensure your content is what users want.
Think about your industry and your target audience. What information is most helpful to them? What do they want to know?
Take this into consideration as you plan what you post on your YouTube channel. You want to ensure you’re posting content interesting to your audience so they watch, comment, and interact with it.
2. Craft click-worthy titles
Another critical component to doing YouTube social media successfully is to craft a click-worthy title. When people look at YouTube videos, they’re turning to the video’s title to tell them what they can expect to see.
If you want to get people to click on your video and check out your content, you must craft a click-worthy title. Make sure your title is descriptive and tells users what to expect when they click on your video. You’ll want to sneak your target keyword in there too!
3. Create eye-catching thumbnails
Next to your YouTube video title, your thumbnail is one of the most critical elements of your video. Your thumbnail serves as a preview of what users can expect to see in your video.
With thumbnails, you have two options:
- Choose a moment in your video: You can use a moment in your video as your thumbnail. This option is the easier one of the two because you can pull it straight from your video without doing additional work.
- Custom thumbnail: A custom thumbnail enables you to upload your own graphic to serve as the thumbnail. Many content creators prefer this option because it enables you to get creative and create a more eye-catching thumbnail.
Generally, it’s best to create a custom thumbnail so you can make the thumbnail you want that will engage users.
4. Interact with people in the comments
YouTube is social media if you interact with people who comment on your content. When you look at social media best practices, you’ll see many people advise that you engage with your audience and comment back when they comment on your posts.
With YouTube, it’s no different.
To get the most from YouTube, take time to interact with people in the comments. If they leave compliments on your video or ask questions, take time to respond to them. Interacting with your audience creates an excellent opportunity for you to build relationships and keep people coming back to check out your content.
