Hyping small creators on YouTube

YouTube are experimenting with a feature called “Hyping”, where every week you can give points to 3 small creators, for videos published in the last week.

Behind this Bite

This is likely testing a few things; can we help surface better content from unknown creators, and how can small channels with ultra-fans actually make more noise?

It's great that after hyping, you see the number roll up in realtime—this demonstrates your impact on the score.

AI insights

Insights

Gamification encourages engagement with tasks and rewards. Here, weekly hype points and a leaderboard nudge users to support creators and compete, which can boost small channel visibility.
User Delight is about small moments that shape how users feel about a product. Showing the hype count roll up in real time creates a fun, rewarding moment for fans and creators alike.
Variable Rewards motivate users by making outcomes unpredictable. Limiting hype to 3 creators per week adds scarcity, so picking who to hype feels more valuable and exciting.
YouTube's reaction emojis also highlight user actions by marking your emoji, making reactions feel noticed. Both features reinforce that your input matters and is seen by others.
Loom shows analytics and celebrates milestones right after actions. Both Loom and YouTube's Hype feature use real-time feedback to make users feel their contributions have real, visible impact.