Google has rolled out the new YouTube comments system, which is designed to stop the absurd levels of spam and trolling which have plagued the site in recent years. Unfortunately the new system requires Google+ integration, and this hasn’t gone down well with a significant section of the YouTube community.
YouTube Comments
The new YouTube comments system requires users to have an active Google+ account. This removes some, though not all, of the anonymity that allowed people to make atrocious comments under videos they disliked.
This change means relevant comments are listed first, meaningful conversations are much more likely to take place, conversations can be made public or private, and channel owners have more power to moderate comments.
Of course there’s a desire from Google to force us all to start using Google+, but like it or not that does appear to have been the best solution to the problematic comments system that has made YouTube a cesspit of hatred.
Complaints From All Sides
Complaints about the changes have come in thick and fast, mostly on the video detailing how the new comments system works. The main criticism seems to be the need to have an active Google+ account, and not how the actual comments are laid out.
The most notable complaint comes from YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim, who banked $65 million when Google acquired the video-sharing site in 2006.
After being almost completely absent from YouTube since posting the first ever video to the site in 2005, he has now popped up on that same video (embedded above) to ask, “Why the f*** do I need a Google+ account to comment on a video?”
It’s a valid question, I guess, but if Karim didn’t want Google dictating how YouTube was run then he shouldn’t have agreed to sell it to the search and advertising giant all those years ago. It’s a bit late to complain now.
Conclusions
The YouTube comments system now makes a lot more sense than it used to, and the worst abuse, bullying, intolerance, and ignorance has vanished from the site. These are good things, so while the need to use Google+ to post comments is annoying, the reward surely justifies the price.
