YouTube has launched a messaging feature that allows viewers to share videos and chat with friends without leaving the mobile app.

Wired reports that the new "native sharing" feature went live Wednesday for a small percentage of users.

Instead of having to forward a video to Facebook or copying and pasting links to email, users can start message threads from a new tab within YouTube's mobile app.

Friends can also add new videos to the conversation thread.

The move to create direct messaging is seen as a response to the rising popularity of other video sharing and instant messaging platforms like Facebook and Snapchat.