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YouTube Scraps Real-Time Video-Sharing Feature

Despite all the Twitter-driven excitement over real-time updates, YouTube is having trouble tapping into the trend.

The Google unit has therefore decided to scrap a relatively new feature that let visitors see (in "real-time") which videos friends were watching, and what they were saying about them.

Originally, YouTube said the goal was to give users "another way to share and find videos on the site." But, according to paidContent, "It never gained much traction (and in fact was only ever available via an invite)."

"The invitation-only feature never got a wide roll-out, and some users complained that it didn't really make using YouTube any different," adds CNet's Webware blog. "It basically performed the same function as an IM, e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook note sent by a friend on an interesting video."

"As it turns out," writes TechCrunch, "RealTime didn't increase engagement and discovery as much as the other features that the site has been rolling out, like auto-sharing videos to Facebook and Twitter, and the improved YouTube friend finder."

"We routinely test early products in TestTube to give the YouTube community a chance to try them out before retiring them, or rolling them out more broadly," the video sharing site said. "Some social features, like Auto-Share, gain a lot of interest and adoption within the YouTube community while others do not."

So, "Instead of continuing to support the experimental feature, YouTube is instead throwing its weight behind other projects that could help increase engagement and viewing among its users," writes NewTeeVee.

Read the whole story at NewTeeVee »

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