YouTube is testing a new collaboration feature that allows creators to link other users’ content to their videos, enabling recommendations to followers of each account as a means of driving visibility and engagement. Creators can tag collaborators, who must approve before their name and audience reach is added to the clip. In addition to a collective graphic, a designation along the lines of “and three more” appears next to the name of the host account holder. When clicked, the “more” opens to display the hot-linked channels that are collaborating. Instagram and TikTok already have similar features in place.

Social Media Today links to a MrBeast collaboration as an example, writing that “the new option will display collaborators on a video both via their channel avatars, which will be stacked alongside each other, and within the creator listing beneath the title.”

The collaboration feature “could democratize partnerships,” writes WebProNews, which suggests “it aims to enhance monetization amid competitive pressures, potentially reshaping creator strategies.”

As creators find themselves grappling “with algorithm changes and audience fragmentation,” this new collaboration feature “is part of a broader push to foster community-driven growth,” WebProNews adds, noting early adopters report “seamless integration within YouTube Studio.”

Although YouTube has for years been encouraging creator collaborations, and includes a whole section on it in its Support section, the platform is “looking for a better way to highlight these partnerships within the content itself, so that creators get equal share of the benefits from their shared clips,” according to Social Media Today.

A YouTube Help post says as much, explaining that its experiments are driven by YouTube product teams who are “constantly testing out new tools and features to help you find, watch, share and create content more easily,” and invites those who are curious to scroll through its current and past tests.

The timing of this experiment comes “at a pivotal moment,” according to WebProNews, noting that following the pandemic era, “where virtual collaborations surged,” the feature formalizes the demand for more integrated partnership tools.

At the 2025 NewFronts, YouTube emphasized creator collaborations, as detailed at the time in Social Media Today. For now, the new feature is only being made available to a small group, but it is likely be scaled after YouTube gathers creator feedback and does some fine-tuning.