YouTube may have overhauled its much-maligned comments this week, but the service's co-founder is just not feeling it. Jawed Karim, one of YouTube's original creators, took to the comments for the first time in eight years and asked, "Why the fuck do I need a Google+ account to comment on a video?"

While it's unclear whether or not his account was hacked to make the comment, the user writing as Karim does appear to be voicing the confusion users might feel when the rollout is complete. Google's plan to fix the YouTube comment system was a tacit admission that it has the worst comments in the world. Instead of listing the usual offensive barbs that YouTube comments are known for, the new system will privilege the most "relevant" comments from the video creator, popular personalities, and your Google+ friends. Of course, you'll need a Google+ account to get started.

Google's war on anonymity during its involvement in NSA controversy has imploded as its move to force YouTube commenters to use Google Plus - and its unwanted "real name" policy - has backfired.


On November 6, Google changed its YouTube property to only allow comments from Google Plus accounts, thus de-anonymizing commenters, as the principal element of its site-wide comments overhaul.

Google's move to force Plus onto YouTube has outraged the YouTube community - and beyond.

YouTube user fury is fueling this anti-Plus petition with over 112,000 signatures, increasing by the minute
I've watched this Google Product Forum YouTube page increase by 10,000 posts over the last two days, all specifically rejecting Plus and de-anonymization.

I have been asked to change my name for the 9th time now.

Google I do NOT wish to use my real name on Youtube, because of a little thing called PRIVACY and another one called SAFETY. [STOP ASKING ME TO USE MY REAL NAME]

Angry and frustrated YouTube content creator TotalBiscuit with its 1,368,000 subscribers, is not the only artist now directing their video comments offsite to places like to Reddit.

He has banded together with other channels (like YouTube's biggest star PewDiePie; 15.6 million subscribers, 2.8bn views) to shut off YouTube comments completely.

The rage at Google for forcing Plus onto YouTube has been covered steadily in the press for eight days running.

Media outlets specifically covering users' angry rejection of Plus include Guardian UK, Forbes, TIME, International Business Times, CNN, The Verge, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, PC Magazine, TechCrunch, the topic has crowded the front page of sites like Reddit and Slashdot, and more.

Google's own YouTube video about the introduction of Plus comments has over 21,000 unbelievably furious comments.

Google has annotated the video to explain that it appreciates the feedback (!) and will fix the spam problem right away.

The N-word, 85 times

If Google's new Plus comment system was changed to encourage positivity and civility, then make no mistake - it doesn't work.

Plus commenters can post links. There is no character limit. Spam and obscenity is rampant.

Worse, the display of comments favors the popular - as in, the most "controversial" comments - from more active Plus users (Google's promise of "smarter sorting" and "meaningful conversations").

YouTube artist Emma Blackery posted a fun-spirited, peeved anti-Google Plus ukulele song in reaction to the change, and was featured on a few tech blogs to the tune of over one million views, with over 30,000 likes in just three hours (and only 1000 dislikes).

But her friend Hank noticed how things had gone so very wrong in the YouTube Plus comments displayed on her video.


He continues,
With over a hundred thousand people writing comments demanding the return of anonymity, rejecting Google's forced real name use, and specifically pointing out Google's role in the NSA surveillance debacle, you'd think that Google would be concerned about user trust on the issue of personally identifying information.

When Vic Gundotra, the head of Google+, suddenly announced his departure from Google today, many were left wondering "why" and what it meant for the future of Google+. He didn't give a reason for leaving, but according to a report from TechCrunch, the likely reason is a major shakeup for Google's social network.

In short, Google seems to be backing away from the original Google+ strategy. The report states that Google+ will no longer be considered a product that competes with Facebook and Twitter, and that Google's mission to force Google+ into every product will end. With this downgrade in importance comes a downgrade in resources. TechCrunch claims that 1000-1200 employees—many of which formed the core of Google+—will be moved to other divisions. Google Hangouts will supposedly be moved to Android, and the Google+ photos team is "likely" to follow. "Basically, talent will be shifting away from the Google+ kingdom and towards Android as a platform," the report said. The strange part is that both of these teams create cross-platform products. So if the report is true, there will be a group inside the Android team making iOS and Web apps, which doesn't seem like the best fit.



Bob's Army, YouTube's spammy revolt against forced Google+ integration.

A Google spokesperson gave Ars the same statement the company gave TechCrunch: “Today’s news has no impact on our Google+ strategy—we have an incredibly talented team that will continue to build great user experiences across Google+, Hangouts, and Photos.” On Gundotra's announcement post, Larry Page wrote "we’ll continue working hard to build great new experiences for the ever-increasing number of Google+ fans."
Despite Google's denial, it makes sense for the company to back away from Google+. The social network hasn't gained the massive userbase it would need to rival Facebook, and the aggressive integration strategy has been universally hated by users. As Google gets bigger and bigger, it faces harsher scrutiny, and few things the company has done have been more disliked than Google+. According to the report, Google+'s YouTube takeover was seen as "a rocky move" even inside the company.

It also makes sense for this to be the reason for Gundotra leaving. Google+ was his baby, and when pet projects like this get canceled or don't go well, it's typical for the company and the employee to part ways (See: Forstall, Scott).

It's unclear what the future of Google+ would be, and the report says that Google itself isn't even sure what to do with the rest of the Google+ team members. TechCrunch says that G+ is not officially dead, but with Gundotra gone and the resources being stripped away, the project seems more like the "walking dead." We imagine that internally, it's more like a drastic scaling-down of the social network, which at one point was deemed so important to the company that every employee's yearly bonus was tied to Google's success in social.

If the report proves true, we'll no doubt see the effects of this shortly. As a brand, Google+ is about at toxic as you can get. Any mention of the service getting close to a Google product usually results in instant rage among the denizens of the Internet. So while the identity, photo, and chat services will stick around, we'll start to see the G+ brand downplayed as much as possible. If the Google+ division really is being shut down and parted out to the rest of the company, will you miss it?