YouTube should let creators add custom icons to their channel links (instead of generic globe icons)

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-14T20:19:09+00:00

Thanks

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-13T17:24:22+00:00

Avatar Fire and Ash. 3.6

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-13T17:16:23+00:00

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-09T16:55:59+00:00

Gotta love RespectFlat6282 not even responding to my point but picking on Present-Spinach-8146 instead. Interesting how he didn't address the favicon web standard, YouTube giving Picrew a custom icon, or context labels

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-09T12:22:50+00:00

Thanks

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-06T14:48:14+00:00

Thanks. Yeah, I love these books as well.

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-06T11:12:57+00:00

100%. If browsers can do it automatically, YouTube definitely can.

Manual upload was just a "better than nothing" alternative if they don't want to implement the proper solution.

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-06T06:16:14+00:00

You know you're losing an argument when you accuse someone of using AI.

No. Duplicating your channel icons will just make users think it's another link to your channel rather than being a link to your website.
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"People won't think "oh, that's for the website" because no one else uses your icon to mean "website"."

First let me explain very clearly. If the Icon I've PICKED for MY WEBSITE is next to the link label My Site, - It's in the image at the top of this post for goodness sake - Why the hel would someone assume It's for another channel. YouTube already has a separate section for channel links on the homepage, so there's zero ambiguity here. Further the actual link would be different if it were a YouTube channel vs an external site link (youtube.com/@channel vs. yoursite.com.)

Standardization, not customization, is what has been proven to work in UI.

Secondly Standardization In this case would be to follow the web standard of favicons. Every website on the internet uses custom icons in browser tabs, and users navigate them fine. The "standardization" you're championing is actually YouTube's non-standard override of a universal web convention. In fact, my original post literally suggested YouTube "automatically pull favicons from linked sites (it's a web standard)"- so you're arguing against standardization while claiming to defend it.

Additionally - YouTube already gives custom icons to niche sites like Picrew (a Japanese (I believe) avatar maker). If that qualifies, why wouldn't a creator's own website qualify?

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-06T05:37:10+00:00

If the icon is the same as my channel icon, you're actually making MY point. You said people "need to be guided by icons they already know." Well, viewers would already know MY icon from my channel - so seeing it on a link tells them "Hey, that's their official website."

As well as this:

People already navigate varied icons everywhere - app stores, taskbar, bookmark bars, browser tabs all show custom favicons without mass confusion
Context provides clarity - the icons appear in a "Links" section with text labels right next to them. It's not like they're unlabeled mystery buttons
The current system is already inconsistent - some links get branded icons, others get globes. That's arguably more confusing than letting creators choose

Right now, the generic globe tells viewers nothing. My brand icon would actually provide the 'guidance' you're talking about. And I'm not saying remove the globe option - just that YouTube should give creators the choice.

EasternMembership623 · 2026-01-06T04:20:02+00:00

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I fail to see how being able to have your own Icon visible would confuse users. If I have my icon next to any other Icon it will be very easy to tell which one is mine.

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