These account handles will function much as they do on other platforms, with users soon getting the ability to find and tag people in comments, video descriptions, titles, and more. This will increase chances of discoverability as well as visibility across all platforms, including regular YouTube, Shorts, and perhaps even YouTube music.
The feature has been in testing for quite some time and will be rolled out slowly on a region-by-region basis. Since unique account handles are rare, YouTube will undertake a special notification system, which will give popular YouTubers preferential treatment on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Under this system, the company will select accounts based on their subscriber count, audience engagement, and overall active presence on the platform. If the users already have a personalized URL for their channel, it will become their default handle. However, they will get a chance to change it to something else if they want to.
Still, this will be less of a rollout and more of a lottery system based on your popularity. So, don't be mad if your favourite username or handle is already taken by the time your number comes up. Typically, YouTube requires a minimum threshold of 100 subscribers to activate the custom URL feature, so chances are that if you have more than that, your name might come up sooner rather than later.
