Tech
YouTube videos are getting 'chapters' so you can skip through with ease
Chapters make it easy to navigate to your favorite parts of a video.
YouTube is introducing a new "chapter" tool for creators to break their videos into sections and make it easy for viewers to "find an exact moment" in what they're watching.
This is useful — Chapters could be useful for the many creators who produce videos in a linear format. For instance, a Q&A video would be easier to skim through if you know the timestamp at which each question begins instead of tapping or sliding the progress bar to hunt for it.
YouTube says that viewers tend to watch more of a video and come back more often on average when chapters are enabled.
Many creators already help their audiences skim through long videos by placing a list of timestamps in the description box, and YouTube says these timestamps will automatically convert into the new chapters. Timestamps need to be listed in the description in order to enable chapters.
The porn industry keeps on giving — Totally a coincidence, but another site that offers chapters is... Pornhub. That website has been something of an idea factory for YouTube, which has also copied Pornhub's auto-preview feature.
YouTube says chapters are available starting today on the web, iOS, and Android.
