What Does Highlighted Comment Mean On YouTube?

YouTube is always trying to improve, and one of the most crucial factors on the site is audience engagement.

Audience engagement includes comments, likes, subscriptions, and other things linking the creator and their audience together on the platform.

One of YouTube’s new audience engagement features is the highlighted comment.

If you have been on YouTube, you have likely seen this feature in your favorite video’s comment section.

But what does the highlighted comment mean on YouTube, and how does this new feature work?

Read on to find out everything there is to know about highlighted comments on YouTube.

What Does a Highlighted Comment Mean on YouTube?

Two features are commonly referred to as highlighted comments on YouTube.

The first is the highlighted comment, which is presented to you personally through your notifications.

The text features a highlight tag to make it easier for you to respond or reply to a person.

The second feature referred to as a highlighted comment is technically a “pinned comment,” which appears at the top of the comment section and is chosen by the video creator.

Although these are two separate features, the term highlighted comment is used interchangeably.

This YouTube video explains the two features very well.

Are Highlighted Comments Public?

The highlighted comments which come through your notifications are not public.

The tag reading “highlighted comment” will only be visible to you.

The highlighted texts which are “pinned comments” are public and will be the first comment at the top of the comment section.

What Does the Highlighted Comment Look Like?

The notification highlighted comment appears as a regular comment, with a small tag reading highlighted comment next to the username of the person who wrote the comment.

The pinned comment appears at the top of the comment section and includes a small tag that reads “Pinned by *YouTube creator’s name*.”

The highlight also has a small pin icon next to the text.

What Happens When Your Comment Is Highlighted?

When you receive a notification and see a highlighted comment, this is a feature meant to help you navigate the text and see the people who have replied to you.

The highlighted text will only appear if you click on the notification you receive.

By pinning a comment, the content creator is trying to highlight the information in that comment.

They might have thought the note was funny, informational, or answered a question that the audience might find interesting.

Are Highlighted Comments Beneficial?

Highlighted comments can be very useful, for both creators and the audience.

1. Increase Outreach

Many creators can experience difficulty navigating their notifications and attempting to reply and interact with their audience.

Using the highlighted comment feature through their notifications, creators can click on the alert, and the page will navigate to the comment the creator was interested in clicking on.

The highlighted comment tag on the comment will also help the creator find the text without becoming overwhelmed or losing it.

2. Show First

When a creator pins a comment, it appears at the top of the comment section.

Creators can choose comments that they think will be helpful, funny, or informative for their audience.

By pinning it, that will be the first thing shown to users in the comment section.

What Are Some Uses of This Feature of Highlighted Comments?

There are several helpful ways you can use the new highlighted comments features.

1. Easy Navigation to Your Comment

YouTube users frequently leave comments on videos from their favorite creators.

Sometimes when you get a notification, it can be hard to figure out the context that someone is either liking or replying to your comment.

When you click on the notification as a user, it will take you directly to your comment.

The system will tag your text as the highlighted comment or the reply to your comment, whichever is relevant in the scenario.

2. Easy Navigation to Comments on Your Video

For creators on YouTube, it can be challenging to sift through all of the comments on your videos.

It becomes more difficult when you have multiple videos that are receiving comments.

When the notification about a comment on one of your videos pops up, you can click on it, and you will redirect to the note, and the highlighted comment tag will accompany the text.  

3. Comment Sharing

Pinning comments is one of the best ways for creators to share comments with their audience.

Many creators will go through their comments and pick one that stood out to them so they can show their audience that comment at the top of the comment section.

Does YouTube Automatically Highlight Your Comment?

For highlighted comments that come through your notifications, the YouTube system automatically tags them with the highlighted comment text.

The tag will only appear if you navigate to the comment by clicking on the alert.

Pinned comments are chosen by the video creator and are not automatic.

Can You Choose Highlighted Comments?

Highlighted comments that come through notifications are not public, meaning they are not chosen by creators or the audience.

By clicking on the alert, YouTube will automatically display the highlighted comment tag.

For YouTube creators, you can choose any comment to pin on your video.

Comments can only be pinned by the creator.

Creators can do this by clicking on the three vertical dots to the right of the text and selecting “pin” from the dropdown menu.

Only one comment can be pinned per video, so if you already have a pinned text and decide to pin another, the first text will be removed.

Does a Highlighted Comment Get More Views?

Highlighted comments that come through notifications are not public, and no one other than the person clicking the alert will see them.

Pinned comments are placed at the top of the comment section, and so will be the first and most-viewed comment on the video.

How Are Top Comments Determined on YouTube?

Highlighted comments that come through notifications are an automatic process that occurs when a user clicks on a notification.

Top comments, otherwise known as pinned comments, are not determined by YouTube but are instead chosen by the video creator.

How To Make Your Comment Highlighted

Pinned comments are at the top of the comment section, so many people want to know how to help make theirs a pinned comment.

Only one comment can be pinned per video, so the odds of someone’s note being chosen are rare.

Commenting on random videos will not help in getting your commentary highlighted, so try to engage with videos you are interested in.

Tips for Writing a Comment That Will Be Pinned as a Highlighted Comment

Though there is no way to guarantee that you will have a pinned comment, here are some tips for making a pin-worthy comment:

• Stay relevant to the video
• Ask questions
• Offer intriguing information about the topic in the video
• Use humor
• Do not ask to be pinned

How To Get the URL of Highlighted Comments

Here is a quick tutorial of how to get the URL of highlighted comments.

Click on the Timestamp

When you submit a comment, a time stamp will appear telling you how long ago the comment was submitted.

You can click on this timestamp, click “open link in a new tab,” and then take the URL from the website bar.

Get a Notification

When you click on a notification about a comment, the URL in the website bar will be specific to that comment.

How To Reply to Highlighted Comments

Highlighted comments are the same as any other comment, and there is no specific way you need to reply to them.

How To Remove Highlighted Comments on YouTube

Highlighted comments that come through notifications cannot be removed, but pinned comments can be removed by YouTube video creators.

In order to remove a comment, the YouTube creator must click on the three vertical dots to the right of the text and either unpin or remove the text.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions regarding the new highlighted comment feature on YouTube.

Wrapping Up

The highlighted comment and pinned comment features are two new tools that YouTube has implemented to help with audience engagement and ease of use on the platform.

When you receive a notification about a comment, clicking on the alert will bring you directly to the comment and show a “highlighted comment” tag.

The pinned comment feature allows YouTube creators to select funny, informational, or intriguing comments and place them at the top of the comment section.

By pinning the text, this will be the most-viewed comment.

Many YouTube creators use this feature to engage with their audience.

Want to learn more?

Find out how to use YouTube as a blogging tool.