Francis perfectly sums up the problems with the new YouTube comments section. He accepts the Google+ integration, but there are issues coming from that...
1) Character limit, people are posting novel length comments, and tons of ASCII Art, much of it offensive.
2) Unlimited novelty accounts like Hitler and Jesus Christ. Often posting offensive material.
3) How the top comment section works. Previously it had to be voted up, now attention getting comments rise to the top. Somebody posts something negative, people reply calling them out, that comment then rises to the top, rather than a comment that people liked.
4) External links, often to screamers, viruses and porn.
To fix those issues, he, and many other YouTube people, are going to disable comments to stop the spread of viruses on their channels, and to remove the offensive material.
An aside, I like the theory of Google+, but the fact that I can't order posts by post order (date/time order) on the app versions make it impossible to use... not even an option... At least Facebook gives an option to sort by "Top Stories" (which is never accurate) or Most Recent... The same problem is rising in YouTube comments.
14 Comments
TheGenkAnd all that just to artificially inflate the usage of Google+.
Good job Google, good job.
EvilDeathBeeWow, I had no idea it was this retardedly implemented. All I had noticed was videos have no comments
LendlThe *quality of this surprised me. Nicely done.
siftbotBoosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Lendl.
entr0pyThe changes have made me completely stop posting YouTube comments. But, it also helped me realize that posting comments on YouTube wasn't something I actually got any enjoyment from in the first place. Thanks Google.
ChaosEngine"you have to limit the number of characters.. people are posting novels, movie scripts, ascii art of genitalia and swastikas"
That, right there, is why I don't comment on youtube.
There's no community, there's no value, there's nothing to be gained from reading them or posting on them. It's just too many people.
Even if 10% of the comments are insightful, thought-provoking or funny, it's just not worth it.
Youtube, as far as I'm concerned, is a hosting service. That's it.
ravermanThe number one reason i'm addicted to the Sift.
YouTube needs sifting and better community.
nockHaha.
Google's vision:
1. Do no evil.
2. Allow Hitler and Jesus to post ASCII art of penises and swastikas.
Praetorsays...Soon your journey to the dark side will be complete!
GutspillerGoogle
Do no evil... err we mean make more money.
DeanoBut even before this recent change I'm certain people were posting with novelty accounts. I'm particularly reminded of the football video with Key and Peele and everyone posting using the player names.
Strange. I use so many Google services but Google + is the one thing I just don't want.
I'm not even sure what the status of my account is on YouTube. It looks like it's been linked to plus but I know I've only tried plus on my throwaway google account.
The whole thing is one confused mess.
Sniper007says...I had to LOL when he said there were 1,000 Obamas posting penises and swastikas.
That does suck. All I know is I had about 15 videos that disappeared (one that had nearly 50,000 views) once the whole Google Plus thing went live.
I hate it all.
MilkmanDansays...I've used Adblock Plus Element Hiding Helper to hide the entire YouTube comments section for somewhere around 2 years or so now. I used to get very frustrated with watching anything on YT and seeing that 95%+ of the comments were trash, as this guy noted.
That is one of the primary things that I love about the sift here. I love comments here because it seems like the polar opposite of YouTube; instead of 99% trash and 1% relevant, interesting, or funny comments it seems like we've got 99% good stuff.
Even on controversial things where lots of people disagree, comments here are usually respectful and even-handed -- as is the moderating when necessary.
I think I've posted a sum total of 7 videos to the sift (only one of which made top 15), but I do a lot of commenting and comment reading and upvoting. The whole comment system here makes the entire Sift experience so much better than YT for me that it is like a breath of fresh air.
So I guess, score one for the sift -- at least we've got a pleasant experience here while YT/Google are busy trying to reinvent the wheel.
CreamKYup, Youtube needs Sift.
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