Is YouTube a Social Media Platform? Smart Growth Tips for Content Creators

20-Second Summary

 Is YouTube a social media platform? 

This question is still circulating in the year 2025, with many people confused about the scope of the platform. People get confused about YouTube being a social media, as it has also been known as the second-largest search engine in the world.

Most people use it only to consume content and are not aware of how it can be leveraged as a social media platform into a full-time income stream as an influencer on YouTube.

This blog will entail the scope of YouTube as a social media, its benefits, policies, usage updates, and growth tips for the creators to maximize it as one of the most widely used video-based social media platforms.

What is Social Media?

Social media is any platform that lets users create and share content over the internet, where people can interact with their content through likes and comments and share it if they like it. 

Social media platforms now do not just offer information and provide interaction mediums but have also become a huge fan base and a platform where people are now making a full-time income by just creating content, posting it, and networking to promote it.

Is YouTube a Social Media?

Yes, YouTube is considered a social media platform, and billions of people are using it. In fact, it is considered the most widely used social media platform that is video-based. 

• Having a monthly active user base of around 2.7 billion and more than one billion hours watched per day, it is the second most visited website in the world after Google.
• YouTube is available in 100+ countries, with multilingual content available on the platform in almost 80+ languages. 

In comparison to other video-based social media platforms, YouTube stands out as the largest, known for its extensive usage, reach, and creator ecosystem.

Let’s have a look at its comparison with the top video-based social media platforms:

Features That Make YouTube A Social Media

Social media has certain features; similarly, below, we are going to briefly go through the features of YouTube that are identical to the social media platforms’ features and make it the most widely used Video-based Social Media Platform.

User-generated content

The freedom to create content and share it with its users is a key characteristic of social media.

Being the video sharing community and allowing its users to create, edit, and share their personally created video content is the foundation of YouTube as a platform that makes it a social media platform.

Community Features (likes, comments, shares, subscriptions)

Just like other social media platforms, where community features for interaction are available, YouTube also provides community features like subscriptions to video channels, likes, dislikes, comments, and sharing of the content for interactive engagement on YouTube, and these features make it a social media platform, just like Facebook and Instagram.

YouTube Shorts, Livestreaming, and Community tab

When exploring the answer to “Is YouTube considered a social media platform?” we now claim it as a social media; we also want to inform you, as our audience is that YouTube as a social media platform is not just restricted to sharing videos and getting user engagement between the creator and the watchers via community features only.

YouTube now also lets its users engage with their audience using real-time interaction with features like Live streaming, YouTube shorts content, and via the community tab, where they can announce their posts or share a view to get user engagement for suggestions or general interaction to keep the fanbase interested.

Does YouTube Count as Social Media that Pays Content Creators?

Yes,  YouTube is a social media that pays its user for the number of hours watched on their content. 

• YouTube provides a YouTube Partner Program (YPP) where creators can earn an income from the ads, channel memberships, and various other features provided by YouTube. 
• But in order to avail of these direct payments from the platform, creators need to meet specific eligibility criteria. 

How To Leverage YouTube Social Media For Maximum Reach

In order to use YouTube as a social media and earn a full-time income from it, its users (creators) need to follow specific monetization criteria, which include:

Meeting the Monetization Criteria

The very first condition that the creators need to meet to monetize their channel in order to receive direct payments from the YouTube Partnership Program includes two of the three criteria:

• Gaining 1000 subscribers in 12 months
• Getting 4000 hours of watch time on your content in 12 months

Or

• Gaining 10 million short views in the past 90 days

Once you complete the subscribers’ mark and meet any of the second or third criteria, you can monetize your content and get paid for the ads being shown on your videos.

There are other ways of monetizing your content through YouTube, too that have been briefly given in an image form below:

Creating Content following the Community Guidelines

In order to get monetized and stay monetized and not get any penalties, the creators must also follow the community guidelines when making and posting the video content on YouTube as a social media platform. 

These specific  guidelines that the creators must follow include:

• Avoiding hate speech, threats, or harassment.
• Not uploading violent or graphic content without context.
• Not using misleading titles, thumbnails, or clickbait just to get more views and clicks on the video.
• Avoid spreading medical or political misinformation.
• Staying away from uploading sexually explicit content.
• Respecting the copyright laws, using just your own personal content, and avoiding uploading the content without permission from the original owner. 
• Mark content as “Made for Kids” only if it truly is.
• Not promoting harmful or dangerous challenges.
• Using age restrictions when needed.
• Following local laws and platform-specific ad policies.
  

Doing Proper SEO for Your Content

When your content has been uploaded, you will need to properly optimize your website by using perfectly designed thumbnails that increase CTR using SEO-based titles and descriptions, so that your content can reach the audience searching for the exact keywords.

Use Shorts for Increased Viewership

• Content creators can now leverage YouTube shorts as they receive views and traffic faster than the long-form content; hence, using a mixed content structure, traffic can be generated for the long-form content using the short-form content, too.
• You can generate shorts with a strong hook in the first three seconds and then use these to take the users towards your long-form content.

Post Consistently

• Posting consistently also matters a lot when creating content on YouTube and using it for maximum reach.
• You must create a schedule for posting your content on YouTube, for consistency on YouTube does not mean posting regularly, but it means posting on the same day every week if you choose to post it once a week.
• This way, you tell the algorithm to come and crawl your content and push it to you, the relevant audience.

Engage With Your Community

• In order to retain and increase the viewership of your channel, you must also make sure to interact with your audience via comments sections, live broadcasts, and the community tab. 
• This way, people feel heard, and they love to stay in touch with their favourite creator who gives them a response and listens to their sa,y too.

Analyze Performance

• Keep an eye on the YouTube analytics. They play an important role in the growth of your YouTube channel. 
• These analytics tell you the locations of your audience, the age group watching your content, and the real times when most of your users are online so that you can push your content at the right time to engage the right kind of audience and increase your channel reach to the maximum number of people worldwide.

Cross-Promote Content

• Promote your content on different social media channels so that you can reach different audiences and attract more users from other social media channels by sharing your content and its link.
• You can also cross-promote your content to get more reach by collaborating with other creators working in your niche and promoting your channel via their channels. This works in two ways where both creators can reach out to each other’s audience, gaining more views and subscribers.

YouTube as a Social Media in 2025: Legalities Around Usage

Now that we have answered the question, is YouTube a social media? And also provided you with a detailed guide on how you can leverage this video-based social media platform, we must now look at the 2025 updated Legal framework from YouTube that one must follow as a creator to stay on the platform and keep earning from it. 

Copyright Compliance

YouTube is very strict about the copyrights related to music, video, and clips being used for producing the content. YouTube has a dedicated music library, and as far as the video or images are related, one should not consider using third-party videos unless they have permission; otherwise, they may be at risk of losing their channel and monetization forever. 

You may use royalty-free or AI-created images or videos, but you must give proper disclaimers and claims for the used content in most cases.

COPPA Compliance (for Kids’ Content)

If you are someone who is producing content for kids, then you must comply with the  Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. If you, by any chance, violate any policies while uploading content in the kids category, you may receive strict penalties from YouTube.

GDPR and Privacy Laws

If you’re targeting or collecting data from users in the EU, your content and channel settings must comply with GDPR. Avoid sharing or collecting personal data without consent.

Defamation & Misinformation

• YouTube is not taking defamation and misinformation lightly. It has made its policies around both contexts stricter in 2025. 
• Any channels that will be found spreading misinformation regarding health practices or other topics, or any video surfacing with defamatory remarks, will be subjected to content removal or the permanent demonetization of the YouTube channel.

Sponsorship & FTC Guidelines

• Anyone who is promoting a product or service in their YouTube video must use the “Paid Promotion” tag within their video during the whole duration of the sponsorship act provided by the YouTube platform. 
• Every content creator, whether big or small, must disclose their sponsorships or brand deals clearly under the FTC (U.S.) and other international legal guidelines.

AI-Generated Content Disclosure

• Since Artificial Intelligence is taking the world fast, based on the new 2025 rules, the YouTube social media platform now requires its creators to label the AI content used within their videos.
• The content must be labelled if it is imitating real people, their voices, or events so that misinformation cannot be spread; hence, a disclaimer with AI-generated content must be made in the video descriptions. 

Age Restrictions & Sensitive Content

• YouTube has an audience of billions, including diversified age groups, as its audience and creators. 
• In order to make it a safe place for the underage audience, the explicit content on YouTube must be properly labelled and used with the age restriction filter on it. 
• If someone does not follow such strict guidelines despite knowing them, they may face limited visibility over their content, its removal, or demonetization of their channel.

Fair Use Doctrine

YouTube also leverages its creators with a Fair Usage Doctrine, where one may use a short clip of copyrighted material for educational, critical analysis, or parody reasons under fair use. 

But this does not guarantee protection as it comes under a grey area, and you may get a strike from someone whose content you are using if they feel it is a threat or bad use against them.

Monetization Update: July 15, 2025 (Real Voices & Human Input Required)

• As this blog goes live in July 2025, we would like to bring to your attention that, effective from July 15, 2025, based on its official announcement, YouTube will not be monetizing the AI-generated content, either videos, voice over, or faceless automation. 
• YouTube will only push real human-created content that shows human input across its platform.
• Creators will need to comply with this new update as low-effort AI content could get their channel penalized with lower search visibility and demonetization.

Latest Safety Policies 2025 for YouTube 

In the year 2025, YouTube updated its Regional and Global safety policies. These safety policies focus on:

• Protection of their content creators and content consumers.
• Content Authenticity.
• Regulatory Compliance.

By enforcing these safety policies, YouTube is ensuring the safety of both its creators and its users. 

Below, we are providing a brief detail of the Global Safety Policies by YouTube and also the Safety Policies of the platform for Australia because the region has made its digital safety legislation stricter in 2025.

Key Global Safety Policy Updates by YouTube (2025)

Below, you will find all the key updates on policies for 2025 on YouTube.

Content Labeling

AI-generated content must be labelled, including impersonation videos, voice-over, and deepfakes. 

Improvement Reporting Tools

YouTube has made improvements in its reporting tools, allowing users to report misinformation, harmful content, or wrong impersonations faster than before.

Enhanced Age Restrictions

Age-gating is stricter than before. Any video that includes graphic or sensitive content must be age-restricted, or penalties may be imposed on the content creator and uploader.

Misinformation Control

YouTube’s misinformation control has become tighter as YouTube is now working with fact-checking agencies globally. So, any misinformation against health, politics, or finance-related information will not be taken lightly. 

Comment Moderation

Creators can now take advantage of the AI-filter toxicity in real-time and enable content delays or block toxic phrases they do not wish to see in their comments section.

Digital Wellbeing Features

YouTube is now offering its viewers the option to limit watch time, set content filters, and pause recommendations.

YouTube Safety Policy in Australia (2025)

Australia’s strict digital laws have changed the way YouTube works in the region. YouTube has modified its policies for Australia, specifically working in line with Australia’s Online Safety Act revisions. YouTube has implemented region-specific compliance updates effective January 2025:

• Users under the age of 16 in Australia are banned from using YouTube without the consent of their parents.
• Data privacy laws have been updated for minors, and YouTube cannot collect or use personal data for ads.
• Any ads that target the age group of users under 18 are disabled for YouTube in Australia. 

Final Remarks:  Is YouTube considered a Social Media Platform?

There was a time when YouTube was just a video-sharing platform, but later on, it evolved into being the most widely used social media platform with a community connecting over video-based content.

Today in 2025, YouTube has come a long way and is providing features like Community Tabs, live streams, short-form content, and monetization of the channels. YouTube is redefining itself as a social media platform with a huge global impact and powerful ecosystem. 

With all its features explained above, the answer to your question is that YouTube is considered a social media platform? is YouTube does qualify as the biggest video-based social media platform, and with its strict policies and creator support program, it is not only leading in user engagement but also adjusting to its regional digital laws to provide a suitable social media platform for its user base as per their country’s legislations.

If you really want to grow on YouTube’s social media platform, you must adhere to its policies strictly because YouTube does not take it lightly when it comes to rules and community guidelines, and that is what makes it the best social media platform.

For quick and healthy growth on YouTube, you must ensure:

• You are producing original content following the community guidelines.
• You do not use clickbait, do proper SEO, and let your content be the quality that attracts an audience.
• Always stay up to date with policy changes to avoid any penalties like lower visibility or demonetization from YouTube by mistakenly breaching violations.

If you want more updated content regarding YouTube and Digital Advice, feel free to visit The Digital Advice for fresh and updated content.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is YouTube considered a social media platform in 2025?

Yes, YouTube is a widely used video-based social media platform where users can share their content, create an audience or fan base, and even get monetized and earn a full-time income from this social media platform.

Why is consistency important for YouTube’s growth?

Consistency matters a lot for YouTube because, just like Google blogging and websites content, crawlers on YouTube crawl your channel regularly to see when you update content so that it can be pushed to the right audience for more viewership, by consistently updating you ensure that algorithm picks up your routine and timely push your content to your followers.

What is the role of fair use on YouTube for creators?

As per the role of fair use on YouTube, one can use short parts of videos or voiceovers within their content for parody, critique, or information purposes. But this does not guarantee not getting hit with strikes. Someone having an issue with your critique or parody could put a strike on your video and channel, and more strikes could endanger getting demonetized.

What are the updated community guidelines on YouTube in 2025?

In 2025, YouTube guidelines have become stricter around users, and they need to comply with guidelines like avoiding hate-speech and defamation, clickbait thumbnails, adult content, or AI-generated low-effort content that could in any way mislead or harm the community. 

Does YouTube require AI content disclosure in 2025?

Yes, YouTube not only requires the disclosure of AI content, but it also will not push the low-effort AI content for monetization and more viewership. Human efforts in content in the form of voice, video,  and reviews will be promoted and eligible for monetization.

How do YouTube Shorts help increase channel reach?

YouTube channels see 25 to 50 percent higher retention in their traffic upon combining the shorts with long-form content. Using the shorts, creators can bring their audience to their long-form content by providing a hook to the content. 

What legal policies must creators follow on YouTube in 2025?

Users should not reproduce or use copyrighted content, follow COPPA and GDPR for kids’ related content, provide FTC disclosures for sponsored content, disclose AI content usage, and avoid spreading hate speech and misinformation.

What are the content restrictions for Australian creators on YouTube in 2025?

In Australia, users under the age of sixteen cannot use YouTube without parental consent, Ads targeting users under 18 are banned, data privacy laws have been updated for minors, and YouTube cannot collect or use personal data for ads.

How many active users does YouTube have in 2025?

YouTube has around 2.7 billion users worldwide. It is available in 100 plus countries, and the content is being offered in 80 plus languages.