YouTube Unexpectedly Revives a Feature That Disappeared for Seven Years

YouTube tightens moderation rules and revives a useful feature under strict conditions.

YouTube recently surprised users by officially announcing the global relaunch of direct messaging (Direct Messaging - DM), more than seven years after it was shut down. Once a popular tool in 2017 under the name 'Messages', the feature was discontinued by Google in September 2019 because of major content-moderation challenges. Now, in an effort to keep users from leaving the platform when they want to share content, YouTube has revived the chat inbox with a completely new look and operating model.

YouTube officially brings back direct messaging

The core improvement in this version of direct messaging is its deep integration with YouTube's vast content library. Users can now share regular videos, Shorts, or livestreams in a chat room and discuss them with friends inside the mobile app. However, learning from past management gaps, Google has built an extremely strict security barrier. The chat feature is limited to users aged 18 or older who are signed in to a verified, official channel account and must update to the latest mobile app version.

To start a private conversation, users must create and send an invite link to a friend. The link is automatically disabled and expires exactly seven days after it is sent if it is not accepted. Inside the chat interface, users have full control over their content: they can press and hold a message and select 'Unsend' to remove it from both devices, or delete the entire conversation. To maintain a healthy digital space, YouTube continuously monitors the messaging system to detect and prevent behavior that violates its community guidelines.

Although this large-scale deployment has now covered dozens of major countries such as the US, UK, Singapore and most of Europe, brand accounts and the Vietnamese market are still temporarily left out of the game.

Phong Do _Thanh Nien Online