Until now, if you wanted to share a video privately on YouTube you needed to use YouTube’s “Private” feature and hope it worked. The private video feature requires that the person you are sharing your video with also has a YouTube user account. Lots of people still don’t have a YouTube account and the process can be somewhat cumbersome if you do not already have a Google account. Also, the private video sharing feature has not been particularly reliable as indicated by YouTube’s own support page “Private Video” Limited Access ULR doesn’t work – YouTube Help. The privacy feature also limits access to 25 people.
Thankfully, YouTube has announced they are making it much easier to share videos somewhat “privately” with their new Unlisted Video feature. You can read YouTube’s blog post announcement here – More choice for users: unlisted videos Beyond obvious personal uses like sharing family vacation video, the Unlisted Video feature will also make it much easier for video production companies like Rewatchable to share draft videos with clients without limitations or significant risks.
YouTube Unlisted Video Feature Screenshot
YouTube has created a support page with questions and answers related to YouTube Unlisted Videos. Getting Started: Unlisted videos
The Unlisted Video option is sure to be much more popular than the Private Video option but there are downsides to the Unlisted Video option. If you share your Unlisted Video with a colleague or friend and that person publishes the link on their blog anyone who ends up having access to the link will have access to the video and will be able to share the video. Companies need to be careful when they use the Unlisted Video feature and ask themselves how much damage could be inflicted if the video got out in the open prematurely. James Cameron will likely not be using the Unlisted Video feature if he produces Avatar 2.
YouTube Unlisted Video Not Working
Unlisted Videos will only work for YouTube accounts in good standing. If you do not see the unlisted video option it could be that your account has a terms of service violation or a strike for copyright infringement.
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