Google has finally addressed the issues affecting the new YouTube comments system, controversially rolled out earlier this month.
Unfortunately, while small changes are being made to plaster over the cracks, the elephant in the room that is Google+ is going nowhere. In fact, Google refuses to even address the part its social networking integration has played in the mess.
Google Admits Problem
In the weeks since the new YouTube comments system was pushed out to an unsuspecting public, things haven’t gone well. But Google has remained silent on the issues, both big and small, preferring instead to make small changes behind the scenes.
Now, finally, Google has admitted there are problems inherent in the new Google+-powered system, though it won’t admit Google+ is at fault for any of them.
In a post on the YouTube Creator Blog, “the YouTube comments team” admits the new system “introduced new opportunities for abuse.” These include the allowing of ASCII art and links, and the promotion of popular comments.
These are, according to YouTube, all being fixed, while threaded conversations, formatted comments, the moderation of old comments, and bulk moderation for new comments are being rolled out now or in the future.
The Truth
All of this proves beyond doubt that the Google+ integration wasn’t ever intended as a fix but was instead purely a way of forcing YouTube’s massive audience of users into signing up and using Google’s social networking effort.
What’s sad is that while Google has now admitted there’s a problem (or three) and promised to issue fixes for them, it didn’t even acknowledge the vitriolic response to the forced Google+ integration.
In other words don’t expect the company to even consider a reversal of the original decision, despite more than 215,000 people having (at the time of writing) signed an online petition to persuade the company to do just that.
The new Google+-powered YouTube comments system is here to stay, and nothing anyone does is going to change Google’s mind on that in the future.
Conclusions
Google has really messed up on this one. Change is inevitable, and often good, but this major change to a beloved website hasn’t delivered what was promised. It’s going to be painful watching Google trying to patch up a system that was clearly broken from day one.
