Are YouTube Comments Still a Reliable Indicator of Audience Engagement?

Hi everyone,
I’ve noticed that some videos receive a lot of views but very few comments, while others generate active discussions.
Do you think comment activity is still a reliable measure of audience engagement on YouTube, or are other metrics more important today?
Would love to hear your thoughts.

I think comments are still a useful engagement signal but they don't tell the whole story Watch time shares and returning viewers often provide a better picture of how an audience is responding to content

I think youtube comments are still a useful signal, but I would not rely on them alone. Nowadays, metrics like watch time, audience retention, shares and returning viewers tell a much bigger story. I have seen videos with very few comments perform extremely well because people watched them all the way through.

nordicvaleagencyteam said:

Hi everyone,
I’ve noticed that some videos receive a lot of views but very few comments, while others generate active discussions.
Do you think comment activity is still a reliable measure of audience engagement on YouTube, or are other metrics more important today?
Would love to hear your thoughts.

Click to expand...

Yes, comment activity is still a reliable measure of audience engagement but content quality, watch time and channel age is also matters for audience engagement on YouTube.

Comments are more of a niche signal these days imo. Depends heavy on the content type too... like a tutorial or how-to vid gets way more comments cause people ask questions, but a relaxing or music style video could pull insane watch time with almost zero comments and still get pushed hard by the algo.

What @seopowergirl said about returning viewers is the one I watch closest honestly. Comments can be faked or padded easy, returning viewer % is much harder to game and tells me if the content actually sticks. Seen a few channels chase comment counts and totally ignore retention, then wonder why their reach tanked.

So yeah still useful, just not the main thing I'd judge by anymore.

comments still matter but they are not the strongest engagement signal anymore on youtube watch time retention and session duration usually matter more comments just show active viewers who are willing to interact but they do not always reflect overall performance of a video

nordicvaleagencyteam said:

Hi everyone,
I’ve noticed that some videos receive a lot of views but very few comments, while others generate active discussions.
Do you think comment activity is still a reliable measure of audience engagement on YouTube, or are other metrics more important today?
Would love to hear your thoughts.

Click to expand...

Watch time is KING because that's how you get paid. Comments come second and they are mostly a vanity metric in my opinion.

YouTube comments remain a good indicator of engagement, but they should be taken with a grain of salt, they're still valuable because they show that people took the time to write something, which is a much stronger signal of interest than a mindless like.

The problem is that comments aren't as genuine as they used to be, there are organized groups that manipulate the comment sections to artificially inflate engagement, this happens a lot on large channels and in topics like politics or news, where they pay for bots or paid comments to create the illusion of support or controversy, it's also true that negative comments tend to generate more responses than positive ones, which distorts the perception of whether the audience actually liked the video.

So, for the average creator, comments can be a good barometer, but not the only one, there are creators with videos that get few comments but a lot of sales, and others with tons of comments that don't translate into anything, it's best to view comments as a qualitative indicator, but complement it with retention and viewing time metrics to get a more realistic picture of how your audience is responding.

are they reliable, maybe , but half of them are likely do by bots .

That's only natural. Comments are a strong indicator of how interested and engaged viewers are with your content.