YouTube now has stickers, although unlike Line, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger’s stickers, YouTube’s Super Stickers are closer to the way Twitch emotes work. Here, they are a new way for you to stand out when interacting with your favorite YouTubers. The video site has been testing them with certain creators for several months, but they are now ready for everyone around the world to use.
Super Stickers feature animated characters, which, when purchased, appear in a pinned, highlighted box all of their own in the chat stream, making sure they’re easy to see. After all, you’ll be buying one of these to get noticed, so you don’t want them buried in amongst everyone else’s boring, unpaid messages.
YouTube has eight sticker packs ready for the global launch, and five of these are animated. Super Stickers feature a variety of unique characters, all of which have distinct personalities and biographies, and have been tailored to suit different types of content. For example, some characters will be there to offer congratulations, to say hello, and have designs that best go with musicians or gamers. Sticker packs will also be available in different languages, making them usable all over the world.
A fun, highly visible way for you to connect with your YouTube favorites, Super Stickers are an important part of the revenue stream for YouTubers. They are an extension of YouTube’s Super Chat feature, where paid-for comments are pinned to the chat stream, which has apparently proven very lucrative. According to YouTube, 100,000 channels have Super Chats enabled, and some streams have earned an astonishing $400-plus per minute. For creators, Super Stickers can be quickly enabled if you’re already eligible for Super Chat. If not, you can apply for these features here.
Super Stickers can be purchased during a live chat, although YouTube has not confirmed how much each will cost, or whether they are only usable during one chat. Stickers purchased in messaging apps are usually a one-off purchase and can be used repeatedly. YouTube states it will not offer refunds on Super Sticker purchases, and does place a limit on how much you can spend on them per day. Seeing as the limit is $500 per day, or $2,000 per week, it seems these stickers won’t be able to be reused.
Look out for Super Stickers on your favorite YouTube chats from Tuesday, November 5, and they should be visible using a desktop browser, or YouTube’s mobile apps.