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For what it’s worth, my understanding is they were actually trying to fix the situation but users conceptualize being “verified” as a sign of status and so got

by nilkn 7y ago

For what it’s worth, my understanding is they were actually trying to fix the situation but users conceptualize being “verified” as a sign of status and so got upset. A lot of YouTubers are currently “verified” for whom there is no risk of mistaking them for a clone account. The only real point is for YouTube to verify the channels of actual celebrities who will get lots of copycats and are known off the platform.

sschueller 7y ago
But if your ID has been "verified", why would you all of a sudden no longer be verified unless the verification was fraudulent? To verify yourself on instagram etc. you need to submit identification etc. . Once you have done that there should be no reason to take that away from you if valid. You are still you unless maybe you get married and your name changes which could require a re-verification and if the policy was changed that you don't qualify for verification it would be fair for you to be no longer verified.
- dwild 7y ago
  > But if your ID has been "verified", why would you all of a sudden no longer be verified unless the verification was fraudulent? From what I understands, the previous verification was merely reaching 100k, nothing more. I wouldn't call that fraudulent, but considering many people may expect it to means that their identity was actually verified by Youtube (and not that they simply reached a milestone in subscription), I wouldn't call that being verified. > To verify yourself on instagram etc. you need to submit identification etc. . Once you have done that there should be no reason to take that away from you if valid. I agree, but we aren't talking about Instagram now, but Youtube.
  - fulvous 7y ago
    On YouTube can you set your name to anything, including the name of another channel. This leads to accounts with the same name and profile picture as the actual channel commenting on any popular video. These accounts typically have no subscribers as they are not channels of actual creators. Having 100K subscribers proves you are an actual channel with fans who will want to know if a comment posted under that name is the actual content creator.
    - dwild 7y ago
      > Having 100K subscribers proves you are an actual channel with fans who will want to know if a comment posted under that name is the actual content creator. There's 2 issues here. First it doesn't means the subscribers are actually legit. You could see from time to time channel that can lose hundred thousands subscribers in a day because Youtube purged a bunch of fake accounts. It's harder to see now that Youtube abbreviate the subscriber count, but I remember, it wasn't something constant, it was sporadic. Second, it's only true if the name is original. More and more channels reach the 100k everyday, it's just going to be harder and harder to make sure none of them try to impersonate someone else. If that stay the only thing needed to be "verified", you'll get someone that will get that "verified" status even though he isn't the one he is saying he is, that's just the good old Murphy's law for you. As I said, verify tag make people believe that you have actually been verified. It does makes sense that you change your politic so that you actually verify people...
- delusional 7y ago
  It's about what people know you from. If people know you from off platform, and they go to YouTube to see that same person, I can verify that. If your main platform is YouTube, then obviously you are you by definition, and verification carries no information. Basically, if you were tasked with verifying KFC, you could check that the KFC on YouTube is indeed the fast food chain. If you were tasked with verifying PewDiePie, then what are you verifying?
apostacy 7y ago
I think the benefit of verifying someone nobody has heard of is that you know that they have submitted identification documents to YouTube, and are less likely to be scamming you, and could be sued. I would certainly trust a verified user more for that reason.

by nilkn 7y ago

sschueller 7y ago

But if your ID has been "verified", why would you all of a sudden no longer be verified unless the verification was fraudulent? To verify yourself on instagram etc. you need to submit identification etc. . Once you have done that there should be no reason to take that away from you if valid. You are still you unless maybe you get married and your name changes which could require a re-verification and if the policy was changed that you don't qualify for verification it would be fair for you to be no longer verified.

dwild 7y ago
> But if your ID has been "verified", why would you all of a sudden no longer be verified unless the verification was fraudulent? From what I understands, the previous verification was merely reaching 100k, nothing more. I wouldn't call that fraudulent, but considering many people may expect it to means that their identity was actually verified by Youtube (and not that they simply reached a milestone in subscription), I wouldn't call that being verified. > To verify yourself on instagram etc. you need to submit identification etc. . Once you have done that there should be no reason to take that away from you if valid. I agree, but we aren't talking about Instagram now, but Youtube.
- fulvous 7y ago
  On YouTube can you set your name to anything, including the name of another channel. This leads to accounts with the same name and profile picture as the actual channel commenting on any popular video. These accounts typically have no subscribers as they are not channels of actual creators. Having 100K subscribers proves you are an actual channel with fans who will want to know if a comment posted under that name is the actual content creator.
  - dwild 7y ago
    > Having 100K subscribers proves you are an actual channel with fans who will want to know if a comment posted under that name is the actual content creator. There's 2 issues here. First it doesn't means the subscribers are actually legit. You could see from time to time channel that can lose hundred thousands subscribers in a day because Youtube purged a bunch of fake accounts. It's harder to see now that Youtube abbreviate the subscriber count, but I remember, it wasn't something constant, it was sporadic. Second, it's only true if the name is original. More and more channels reach the 100k everyday, it's just going to be harder and harder to make sure none of them try to impersonate someone else. If that stay the only thing needed to be "verified", you'll get someone that will get that "verified" status even though he isn't the one he is saying he is, that's just the good old Murphy's law for you. As I said, verify tag make people believe that you have actually been verified. It does makes sense that you change your politic so that you actually verify people...
delusional 7y ago
It's about what people know you from. If people know you from off platform, and they go to YouTube to see that same person, I can verify that. If your main platform is YouTube, then obviously you are you by definition, and verification carries no information. Basically, if you were tasked with verifying KFC, you could check that the KFC on YouTube is indeed the fast food chain. If you were tasked with verifying PewDiePie, then what are you verifying?

apostacy 7y ago

I think the benefit of verifying someone nobody has heard of is that you know that they have submitted identification documents to YouTube, and are less likely to be scamming you, and could be sued. I would certainly trust a verified user more for that reason.