New York: YouTube is delving into innovative territory with a new experiment aimed at revolutionizing user browsing experiences. The platform is currently testing a unique feature allowing users to filter videos on their home feed based on colour preferences. This experimental feature aims to enhance visual coherence and provide a more tailored browsing experience amidst the vast array of content available.
Insights from 9to5Google and discussions on Lemmy have unveiled this intriguing development. Users have reported encountering a prompt within the YouTube mobile app, inviting them to explore this new feature. The prompt tantalizingly asks if users are “craving something new”, offering options to customize their video feed with colours such as red, blue, or green.
While this feature represents a departure from conventional browsing methods, it remains in the experimental phase and is not widely available. Allison Toh, a YouTube spokesperson, confirmed to The Verge that the feature is currently accessible to “select users on Android and iOS mobile devices.” However, the company has not disclosed specific details regarding the rationale behind this development or a potential timeline for wider release.
Upon selecting a colour filter, users will find that their existing homepage feed remains unchanged. Instead, the colour-coordinated results appear as a new feed option at the top of the YouTube app interface. The precise mechanism for filtering videos is not entirely clear, although it seems to be primarily based on the predominant colours in video thumbnails. There is speculation that it may also involve analyzing full video content to detect dominant colours throughout. Notably, the feature serves as an aesthetic enhancement, with no apparent thematic or content-related connection between filtered results.
While unconventional, the concept of colour harmony as a marketing strategy is not new. Across industries, businesses leverage colour coordination techniques to create visually appealing experiences for consumers. Platforms like Instagram witness meticulous curation of posts by brands in fashion and beauty sectors to ensure a smooth transition between colour themes, exemplified by companies like ColourPop.
Furthermore, speculation on Lemmy suggests that the colour-filtering feature could serve as a data collection strategy for YouTube. By monitoring user preferences and engagement with specific colours, the platform may gain valuable insights into user behaviour and preferences.
