You can find toxicity anywhere on the web these days, but YouTube’s comments section is a special kind of hell. I’m sure there are some examples of close-knit communities being kind on the world’s largest video site, but they’re few and far between. YouTube has tried to improve its comments (sorta), but with its latest test, the site is making it possible to read them in fullscreen mode on Android — the one place previously safe from having to interact with your fellow internet users.
It seems like this new view for comments in fullscreen mode is still in limited testing, with a few users on Twitter and Reddit having caught a glimpse of a sliding panel for user replies. In fullscreen, comments appear in a sliding panel next to a minimized version of your video, making it possible to stay entertained with content from your favorite creators and want to rip your hair out at the same time. Multitasking!
When you’re finished looking through replies to a video, users can hide the comments panel from view by swiping down from the top of the banner. Once swiped away, the video returns to its usual size.
It’s already possible to watch a video and check the comments simultaneously on your phone, but only if you stick to portrait mode. If this change does come to more users, it would greatly expand the visibility of the YouTube community on mobile devices — for better and worse.
