If you want to learn how to message someone on YouTube, you’ll need to consider your options. Some YouTubers provide contact details on their channel profile, but others may not, and you’ll need to look at whether it’s suitable to initiate contact or not. If you want to send a message on YouTube, however, here’s what you’ll need to do.
Can You Message Someone on YouTube?
Unfortunately, the YouTube of today isn’t the YouTube of 2005 when the site first launched. Trolls, critics, abusers—they’re all ready to pounce on the YouTube videos that successful creators publish on the platform. To protect those creators, Google has limited the direct contact options that are available to users. Previously, YouTube allowed direct messaging between YouTube users and channel owners. This feature was removed in 2018 to help limit the opportunity for trolls to send abusive messages. If you want to message someone on YouTube today, you’ll need to consider your options carefully. You can leave a comment on a video, for instance, or you can engage in a live chat during a stream, where the YouTube channel creator can see and reply in real time. If the YouTuber has a community page available, you can also reply to posts that the channel creator makes. This may be picked up by the YouTuber themselves, allowing you to engage with them publicly. You may also be able to take advantage of the direct contact details and social media links on the channel’s about page.
Should You Message Someone on YouTube?
Just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean that you should do something. With an article like this, it’s important to stress that contacting a YouTube channel owner isn’t always a good idea. This is ultimately a judgment call, but a good way to determine this for yourself is to look at what contact methods are available on the channel itself. If the creator has shared a website or social media links in their about section, or has posted an email address for contact, then this is a good sign—you may be able to make contact. However, if the creator hasn’t left their details public, and you can’t find an easy way to contact them, consider your next steps carefully. Avoid overreach and use your best judgment here, especially if you don’t have a legitimate reason for initiating contact.
Leaving a Comment on a YouTube Video or Live Stream
The easiest way to message someone on YouTube is to use the built-in features (even if they are limited) that are available, and the best way to do that is to leave a comment on that creator’s YouTube videos or as a message during a live stream. If the YouTuber has enabled comments on a video, you can do so by typing in a message in the Comments section below the video itself, as long as the message doesn’t breach YouTube’s Terms of Service. A comment could be anything—praise, constructive criticism, or an invitation to make contact themselves. You should be careful about sharing your personal details online, but you could always leave a comment that contains a disposable email address, for instance. If you want to leave a message during a live stream on YouTube, you can do so by visiting the live stream video and typing a message in the chat box next to the video itself. On PC or Mac, this is visible on the left. On mobile devices, the chat box is visible at the bottom of the stream. Just remember, however, that any comment you make is public. Any contact you receive in response should be treated with caution, unless it’s made as a direct response to your comment on YouTube itself.
Replying to Community Channel Posts
Another way to message someone on YouTube is to use the channel’s own community blog section. This is a place for YouTube creators to leave posts and messages for their followers and for those followers to reply with likes, emojis, and comments. You can view the community section by viewing a channel’s profile and selecting Community, then selecting the Comment button underneath any post. If the channel creator uses this feature, you can initiate contact by replying to the post itself. Just like a video comment, the creator can then choose to reply. If they’re not interested, however, they can disregard the message. As with video comments, you should remain careful about any personal information you share using this method and ensure your comment doesn’t breach YouTube’s Terms of Service.
Checking a YouTube Channel’s Contact Details
While comments are a good way to use YouTube itself to initiate contact with another YouTube user, you can also look for (and use) the contact details a YouTuber has provided in their channel’s about section. You can view the about section by opening the channel’s profile and selecting About. In the channel profile, the YouTube channel creator may provide links to social media platforms where direct contact is possible, such as a Twitter or Facebook page, or provided a Discord server invite for you to use. This information could be written in the profile description itself. The links could also be made available for you to click directly in the Links section at the bottom of the page. This section may also include a link to their own website that could include a contact form or community forum. If you’re interested in making a business proposal to a YouTube content creator, however, you may be able to use YouTube’s business enquiries tool, visible at the bottom of the about section. If this is available, select View Email Address to view the appropriate email address to use. Remember, however, that this email address (if provided) is for business use only. Any other use for this address may be considered to be abusive or otherwise unwanted in nature.
Contacting an Agent or Manager
For larger channels, you may be able to initiate contact using a third-party. For instance, if the channel creator has an agent or management team, you may be able to send a message through their details. This information will usually be visible in the channel’s about section or on their social media pages. An agent or management team will then be able to screen the messages and pass them on to the creator themselves (if it’s deemed necessary). This information is usually made available for business enquiries, but if you’re polite, a manager or agent may pass on a positive personal message (including your contact details). There are no guarantees of success, however, and you should consider whether or not your message is appropriate before you establish contact.
Using YouTube Effectively
While this guide should help you learn how to message someone on YouTube, you should also respect a YouTuber’s boundaries. If contacting a YouTube channel owner is difficult, that might be on purpose, and you may need to respect that. If you’re starting a YouTube channel yourself, you can take the same precautions. You don’t need to put together a YouTube studio to use the platform effectively, however. You can get rid of the ads, gain access to millions of songs, and download content from YouTube with a YouTube Premium subscription. If your internet data is capped, however, you may need to look at minimizing YouTube’s data usage.
