U.S. Doctors Can Apply for Special Recognition on YouTube ⇥ blog.youtube

Garth Graham, head of YouTube Health:

Today, we’re announcing that for the first time, certain categories of healthcare professionals and health information providers can apply to make their channels eligible for our health product features that were launched in the US last year. This includes health source information panels that help viewers identify videos from authoritative sources and health content shelves that highlight videos from these sources when you search for health topics, so people can more easily navigate and evaluate health information online.

Building a quality online community requires pruning people who are unhelpful or push dangerous advice but, just as important, it is also built from indicating which participants are helpful and qualified. This is all part of a successful moderation strategy. I am not sure YouTube’s implementation is necessarily helpful to a more populist crowd who turn up their noses at any evidence of institutional expertise. It is much the same problem Semafor faces. But it is a step for showing the qualifications of the person you are taking health advice from, and that can help you understand how much weight you should place in their videos.