Originally unveiled back at VidCon earlier this year, Top Fans is a new social feature to help broadcasters identify their most popular viewers. From today, Google is rolling out Top Fans to all channels with more than 5000 subscribers.
YouTube Top Fans is a set of tools allowing broadcasters to see which their most popular viewers are. From the Fan Table, viewers are ranked by how engaged and influential they are with your content, this table is updated daily. The table can be sorted by the engagement level, such as comments, likes, and other public actions; or by number of subscribers, so you can find some potential collaborators.
Google+ Integration
Like with all of Google's social products, YouTube Top Fans has tight integration into Google+. If your channel is connected to your Google+ account, you can add your viewers into your circles and message them directly.
From the insights view, you can set up an initial Google+ circle of your Top YouTube Fans. From this circle, you will see a ticker of their latest engagement with your videos, making it easy to reply to their comments. See what other videos and channels they are into, and reach out via Google+ to ask a question, start a conversation, share behind-the-scenes photos, or upload a private video just for them.
Furthermore, to encourage your viewers to following you on Google+, YouTube will start prompting your top fans when they're watching your videos to follow you on Google+.
YouTube Top Fans is a further step to improve viewer engagement with the broadcaster and encourage the viewers to watch more videos from a particular channel.
How will you use the Top Fans feature to connect with your viewers?
Source: YouTube Creator Blog