YouTube is still top dog when it comes to watching videos online, but the company is facing tough competition from rivals like Facebook and Snapchat. Now the Google-owned video platform may have a plan to fight back with a new feature that lets video creators share photos, text and polls with their fans from inside YouTube.

According to YouTube is working on a big update codenamed Backstage that’s set to launch later this year. Backstage would add a new feed to the service where YouTubers can interact with subscribers in different ways, potentially keeping users from heading to Facebook and other social networks to discuss new videos. Backstage could also include temporary videos that disappear after a set amount of time in an effort to compete with Snapchat.

The Backstage feed would organize posts in reverse chronological order, like Twitter’s Timeline. You’d also be able to receive a notification whenever a YouTuber you like posts something new, similar to the notifications that already go out when a video is published.

Backstage is apparently set to launch before the end of the year for mobile and desktop, though it could be limited to a select group of popular YouTubers to start. The company also plans to let subscribers respond to posts with photos and messages of their own, but that might not come until further down the line.

technobuffalo.com