YouTube Tests Comment Topic Sorting on Shorts Clips

After experimenting with its automated comment topic sorting on regular video uploads over the past few months, YouTube’s now expanding its test of A.I. generated comment summaries to Shorts clips as well, providing more ways to interact with content.

As you can see in this example, the new comment sorting process uses A.I. to detect common themes within video comments, then automatically sorts them into those categories. Which, at least in theory, should make it easier for you to skip through to the most relevant and/or interesting discussions related to each clip.

And now, you’ll be able to see the same on Shorts clips too. Well, at least some of them.

As per YouTube:

“To help you understand and participate in conversations on YouTube, we’re testing a feature that uses A.I. to organize large comment sections on English-language Shorts into easily digestible themes. If you’re in the experiment group, you’ll see a new option to sort by “Topics” on some Shorts when reading comments on mobile.”

The benefits, according to YouTube, are twofold. For one, creators will be able to use these comment summaries to jump into key discussions on their videos, which could also provide them with guidance on what to create for their audience next.

While at the same time, viewers will also be able to see what the key discussions are around each clip, and will also be able to skip to the most relevant notes.

And thus far, YouTube says that the feature has proven helpful:

“We launched this feature within large comment sections on English-language long-form videos and we’ve heard positive feedback, so we’re happy to be testing it on Shorts. This experiment is rolling out on the YouTube mobile app to a small number of viewers and on a small number of Shorts with large comment sections.”

So it’s limited to Shorts with a heap of comments, and there’s no guarantee that all Shorts with a lot of comments will have comment sorting available.

But it could be another way to spark more discussions, and make it easier to understand what’s sparking the most engagement on each clip.