It seems like they live in an echo chamber sometimes or they are more fixated on solving their own problems instead of their users. Google more than any other c

It seems like they live in an echo chamber sometimes or they are more fixated on solving their own problems instead of their users. Google more than any other company seems to have a bias in that if a problem can't be solved by an algorithm and brute force human labor is required, they just don't want to do it and will find every excuse to avoid it. In this case, it really feels like they "have this great idea to clean up the comments" problem that "doesn't require Google to do any work". It feels like they were willing to buy into the hype around Gamification of everything to solve their all problems to justify an internal aversion to solving problems the hard way, which would require Google to pay for actual human labor. It was "win-win" in their echo chamber because it doesn't cost them much in terms of effort or money, while content creators should be happy Google is trying to improve the situation. Another good example is the case of Eli the Computer Guy. He is an interesting content creator because he has actual marketable skills outside content creation and has built his own businesses before. He was a focal point last year during another YouTube controversy which later became known as #WTFU. After getting screwed by "The Algorithm", he announced he was leaving YouTube because the environment was not conducive to building a serious business around. One of the stories he told was he used to have a Google Content Partner, an actual human he could talk to if he had problems. Then shortly after, that person announced she got a promotion and was leaving with no replacement. "But don't worry, we have a great solution for you. You can use our forums if you have questions." Eli has gone on about how dense they were that they didn't understand that this was a terrible thing and forums were no replacement for an actual person. It was one of many examples he cited about how out of touch Google is with their own community. Eventually, after this controversy, they managed to keep Eli on YouTube for now, doing the "bare minimum" to keep him, which includes giving him a person to talk to. But there are much bigger YouTube creators who still don't have anybody they can talk to.