YouTube Promotes Unique Identity: A Comprehensive Guide to YouTube Handles

What is that one thing that every other individual on social media sites like YouTube wants?

The answer to this is straightforward. The primary objective of setting up an account on social media is to connect with others and share content, be it informative, creative or technical. Every user wants to build an audience for themselves and create an influence on them.

For anything to be influential, it has to have a unique identity to which people can relate and go on to become a promoter of that identity.

Since many fishes exist in this vast sea of social media, it becomes difficult for creators and users to carve a niche for themselves. Sometimes users also face duplication of their content which dilutes their efforts to mark their presence.

YouTube has come up with a solution to this problem which is literally “unique.” Yes, Google’s most used social media platform is introducing YouTube Handles.

What Are Handles?

A handle, in standard terms, refers to a unique name that helps people on social media platforms identify and differentiate users from each other. YouTube handles are a new way for people to find and connect with creators and each other on YouTube.

Let’s understand how handles are perceived in the social media ecosystem. Social media handles are individual usernames chosen by the users to create a unique identity. These handles are users' online addresses on social media.

On Social media, three terms are used synonymously by the users. The first one is the social media handle, typically initiated by the “@” sign to simplify the process of searching and tagging users, creators, and brands.

The second is the username used as a credential to sign in to an account, and the third is the display name shown on the platforms when you engage with other accounts.

Advantages Of Handles

• Whether you are a business, brand, or creator, setting up a handle for your youtube account will differentiate your account from the millions of accounts with the same name as yours.
• Users can search, find, and tag you more easily in the content relevant to your industry. This will, in the long run, will help in the growth of users’ YouTube accounts.
• Your YouTube handle will be unique to your account.
• Handles will solve the problem of spam comments that often lead to phishing, as their accounts can now be identified with their individual handle.

How To Get Your Youtube Handle?

Youtube will be rolling out the handles to all users gradually.

• Go to http://Youtube.com/handle

• A page with your profile appears on the screen.

YouTube automatically converts your URL into your handle if you have a custom URL.

If you want to change your handle

• Click on the “Change Handle” button available on YouTube.com/handle

• A dialog box will appear where you can change your handle.

• If the handle is available, you get a green checkmark next to your handle.

• If the handle is not available, you will see a red exclamation mark next to it.

• YouTube will also give you suggestions for your handle.

If your desired handle is available or you accept a suggestion from YouTube, click confirm selection to change your handle.

YouTube reserves the previous handle for 14 days for users to return to their handle if they want.

Note: Users have up to November 14, 2022, to select a handle, or YouTube will automatically assign a handle to the users.

Don’t worry; you can still change your handle at any time by following the above process.

Where Can You Use YouTube Handles?

• A handle can be used in the channel URL to make it easy to remember for any target audience and other users on YouTube.
• A YouTube handle is a unique identifier used for searching areas to find specific creators, businesses, and brands.
• Collaboration with influencers and creators is a daily thing on YouTube. Users can mention handles in the video descriptions to tag other users to promote the partnership.
• Just like video descriptions, handles are a way to refer other users in the comment section.

Youtube’s Handle Naming Guidelines

• A user’s handle should be between 3-30 characters.
• The handle should comprise alphanumeric characters (A–Z, a–z, 0–9)
• It can also include: underscores (_), hyphens (-), and periods (.)
• YouTube will not allow handles that resemble URL-like or phone number-like structures.
• For example, YouTube will not allow a user to set a handle that looks like “@netclues.com”
• A handle should be available for the user and not already taken by another user.
• Users must follow YouTube's Community Guidelines while setting up a handle.
• The platform will not allow violent, offensive, sexualized, or spammy handles nor support the sale and transfer of handles.

Tips For Choosing The Best Youtube Handle

• Pick a handle that best highlights the content and style you are or want to represent on YouTube.
• If you are a vlogger, keeping your name as the handle is advisable as it helps create personal recall value for your channel and you as an influencer.
• Netclues is a leading IT and Web solution provider, and our handle, Netclues, reflects our industry.
• Our recommendation for our readers is to follow the same handle across all social media platforms so that they are conveniently accessible to their audience without the effort of remembering their handles on different platforms.
• Keep your handle simple and easy to remember.

Who Is Eligible For A Handle On Youtube?

YouTube is keeping handles accessible for everyone and removing the 100 subscriber eligibility threshold that applied to custom URLs.

Disadvantages of YouTube Handles

Since YouTube allows multiple channels to have a similar name and have now rolled out handles that will be unique, a lot of users will not be able to get their desired handles. This will lead to confusion and divert audiences to different channels before landing them on the channel they want to visit.

Conclusion

Users on social channels such as YouTube are looking to monetize their ability to deliver their skills. Handles make it effortless for people to discover a creator's content and engage with their favorite brands. Just like YouTube, Netclues can also streamline the process of helping you increase your audience engagement and generate leads & revenue through social media marketing.

Get in touch with us today and stay updated with the best strategies to scale your business.