TechAltar18h ago

PSA: If you share a YouTube video using the native share feature it now attaches your user ID (?si=xxxxxx) to the URL automatically.

YT likely does this to growth-hack DMs. When someone clicks on the link, YT can start a DM thread between you two automatically with this ID even if they found the link outside of the YT app.

If you post links publicly, I strongly recommend deleting the ID unless you want to post your user profile.

Show threadThibaultmol 🌈18h ago
@Techaltar tbf, this isn't new, si has been in the URL for probably a decade now. And they've definitely been using this data before. It's only now that it's in a user visible ui item.
Edit: see my later reply, turns out that it has been a thing for a while not a decade
Show threadTechAltar18h ago
@thibaultmol It has? I haven't seen it in my shared links until about 2 weeks ago which coincides with their DM push. Maybe they are experimenting with different users differently?
Show threadtehuro
@Techaltar @thibaultmol yes, for a few years at least... You can find it in almost all YT links posted online in last few years since barely anyone removes tracking parameters before sending links
Apr 7 at 12:06pmWeb