YouTube, you had one job.
It’s safe to say that things haven’t been going well with the new YouTube comments since it rolled out the feature last week. Along with making anyone who wants to comment sign up for Google+, you can now post links in the comments and post messages as long as you want, leaving plenty of space to post spam links and inappropriate ASCII art. And the same misogyny, gay-bashing, and anti-Semitism that YouTube was trying to get rid of still shows up—as long as the commenter is considered “influential” on Google+. Actual discussion often gets marked as spam.
But worst of all, the comments are preventing YouTube from being a functional website.
NanoBite is trying to run his YouTube channel, but he finds that he’s having trouble performing the most basic functions, like subscribing to channels and rewatching a video, and it’s not from a lack of trying (or from not linking his Google+ profile).
His issues could be blamed on simple glitches. But YouTubers have plenty of other issues with the new changes.
Some, such as Emma Blackery, have chosen to vent their frustration through a song.
Others have simply gone to venting to whoever will listen. YouTube cofounder Jawed Karim has made it clear he doesn’t like the new changes while a CinemaSins parody quickly puts the issues front and center. Or, if you’re like AlphaOmegaSin, your hatred for the new commenting system might make for a 10-minute rant.
To answer those criticisms, John Green rolled out a commenting system on Subbable, the pay-as-you-go service that allows you to give money straight to the content creators, noting that the new YouTube “makes healthcare.gov look functional.” His brother Hank took to Tumblr to vocalize what YouTube needs to learn from the rollout reactions.
“If you ask me if I’d like to do something for six months and I keep saying ‘no’ then I will expect, eventually, to get my way,” Hank wrote. “It’s actually far less frustrating if you just force the changes.”
Even with all of the complaints, people are still using YouTube the way YouTube wants them to use YouTube. But that’s already changing.
As the second most-subscribed channel on YouTube, Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg’s PewDiePie commands over 15.6 million subscribers. Thousands will watch his videos, but directly because of the changes, they will no longer be able to comment on his videos until YouTube fixes the new commenting system. For him, this is preventing the spread of spam and viruses.
Turning comments off. Pretty sure it’s better than having them on at this point.
— PewDiePie (@pewdiepie) November 9, 2013
Self Advertisers, Advertisers, Spam, Impersonators, the list goes on.. It’s better and cleaner without those clogging up front page, for now
— PewDiePie (@pewdiepie) November 9, 2013
PewDiePie is taking his discussions over to Reddit instead. And others, such as DanNerdCubed and TotalBiscuit, have pledged to follow his lead with the logic that no comments are better than spam.
YouTubers may have finally found something to unite on. But making YouTube comments irrelevant is probably not what YouTube had in mind.
Photo via boogie2988/YouTube
