5 ms·

YouTube is emailing users to say “members of the community” are “concerned”

41 points by Jerry2 5y ago

rolph 5y ago
this really looks a lot like youtube is actively survey-phishing.
1MachineElf 5y ago
Users no longer have public dislike counts to express their concerns, and as a consequence of that, there will be more concerning comments on videos.
toomuchtodo 5y ago
Why not just remove the comment functionality? https://torrentfreak.com/were-turning-off-the-comments/ https://torrentfreak.com/were-turning-off-the-comments/ https://thehill.com/news/welcome-to-the-new-thehill-com/ https://thehill.com/news/welcome-to-the-new-thehill-com/ https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2017/08/24/545790266/a-year-after-npr-ends-commenting-no-plans-to-revive-it https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2017/08/24/5457902... https://www.cbc.ca/news/editorsblog/facebook-comments-ed-blog-1.6230921 https://www.cbc.ca/news/editorsblog/facebook-comments-ed-blo... https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-media-social-media-health-north-dakota-018dfb2f115ae4ee012a905f4e5aaf15 https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-media-social... https://www.niemanlab.org/2015/09/what-happened-after-7-news-sites-got-rid-of-reader-comments/ https://www.niemanlab.org/2015/09/what-happened-after-7-news... http://www.imediaethics.org/msn-quietly-ends-online-comments-abusive-offensive-posts/ http://www.imediaethics.org/msn-quietly-ends-online-comments... https://www.reuters.com/article/idIN333073846820141107 https://www.reuters.com/article/idIN333073846820141107 https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/greater-internet-fuckwad-theory https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/greater-internet-fuckwad-theo...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- Inityx 5y ago
  Marques Brownlee talked about YouTube's current comment problems in a recent video, and touched on why it would be so bad for YouTube to disable comments entirely https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cw-vODp-8Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cw-vODp-8Y
- ars 5y ago
  I'd rather they didn't. I don't know which videos you watch, but the ones I watch have lots of very helpful and interesting comments. I've actually been quite impressed at how much improvement there has been compared to a few years ago. For example in an electrical videos people will call out code violations, exemplary work to be copied, mistakes, tips and ideas, and other things like that. In superhero clips from movies I've seen people comment with background info from the comics that adds "flavor" to the scenes. Maybe it's the more "social" videos (family vlogs, personalities, etc) that have bad comments? I don't know, I don't watch too many of those. I would not be happy without the comments - they help me rate the usefulness and reliability of the info I'm getting from the video, in particular from videos that are outside my expertise.
- stolenmerch 5y ago
  My guess is because most of YouTube is not content from agencies and professional news sources as you cite. It's small creators for whom the comments section is their primary source of community engagement and feedback. That's why so many creators tell you to "like, subscribe, and leave a comment". I know it depends on the channel, but I've found the YouTube comments to be often just as quality as the content itself.
  - plorkyeran 5y ago
    YouTubers ask you to leave a comment because they believe that comment engagement is one of the things which results in YouTube recommending your video to people, not because they necessarily care about reading your comments.
    - stolenmerch 5y ago
      For sure, that's definitely part of it. Another big part of it is getting ideas from the comments for new videos to make. This is the "community engagement" part.
throwawaybutwhy 5y ago
Hilarious and gross at the same time. Big Brother^W^W the 'community' (which community?) is watching you, lest you embrace the wrongthink. Next step: 'please reconsider your position on issues A B and C, as there are reasonable indications that your physical address may be leaked to those you disagree with'.
extheat 5y ago
Doesn’t sound that bad. They should of course provide more context as to what triggered the email. Since this is most likely fully automated I don’t think the technical solution to that is too far from reality. As a platform as much as I or anyone else might dislike their policies and decisions, it’s unequivocally their call as to what content they want to allow and what not, for any or no reason. I don’t view reaching out to users as a bad thing.
coolso 5y ago
Hey Elon, when you're done fixing Twitter, please buy 10% of Google next, thanks.
drexlspivey 5y ago
Make sure to put as many positive keywords as you can in the textbox so the AI won’t ban you
zhfliz 5y ago
> Push back against online censorship, cancel culture, and privacy invasion. > Informed by principles on digital rights. surely a trustworthy site both claiming to be pro privacy and in the same notice asking for your email address instead of letting you access the page immediately.

41 points by Jerry2 5y ago

this really looks a lot like youtube is actively survey-phishing.

Users no longer have public dislike counts to express their concerns, and as a consequence of that, there will be more concerning comments on videos.

toomuchtodo 5y ago

Why not just remove the comment functionality? https://torrentfreak.com/were-turning-off-the-comments/ https://torrentfreak.com/were-turning-off-the-comments/ https://thehill.com/news/welcome-to-the-new-thehill-com/ https://thehill.com/news/welcome-to-the-new-thehill-com/ https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2017/08/24/545790266/a-year-after-npr-ends-commenting-no-plans-to-revive-it https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2017/08/24/5457902... https://www.cbc.ca/news/editorsblog/facebook-comments-ed-blog-1.6230921 https://www.cbc.ca/news/editorsblog/facebook-comments-ed-blo... https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-media-social-media-health-north-dakota-018dfb2f115ae4ee012a905f4e5aaf15 https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-media-social... https://www.niemanlab.org/2015/09/what-happened-after-7-news-sites-got-rid-of-reader-comments/ https://www.niemanlab.org/2015/09/what-happened-after-7-news... http://www.imediaethics.org/msn-quietly-ends-online-comments-abusive-offensive-posts/ http://www.imediaethics.org/msn-quietly-ends-online-comments... https://www.reuters.com/article/idIN333073846820141107 https://www.reuters.com/article/idIN333073846820141107 https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/greater-internet-fuckwad-theory https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/greater-internet-fuckwad-theo...

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Inityx 5y ago
Marques Brownlee talked about YouTube's current comment problems in a recent video, and touched on why it would be so bad for YouTube to disable comments entirely https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cw-vODp-8Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cw-vODp-8Y
ars 5y ago
I'd rather they didn't. I don't know which videos you watch, but the ones I watch have lots of very helpful and interesting comments. I've actually been quite impressed at how much improvement there has been compared to a few years ago. For example in an electrical videos people will call out code violations, exemplary work to be copied, mistakes, tips and ideas, and other things like that. In superhero clips from movies I've seen people comment with background info from the comics that adds "flavor" to the scenes. Maybe it's the more "social" videos (family vlogs, personalities, etc) that have bad comments? I don't know, I don't watch too many of those. I would not be happy without the comments - they help me rate the usefulness and reliability of the info I'm getting from the video, in particular from videos that are outside my expertise.
stolenmerch 5y ago
My guess is because most of YouTube is not content from agencies and professional news sources as you cite. It's small creators for whom the comments section is their primary source of community engagement and feedback. That's why so many creators tell you to "like, subscribe, and leave a comment". I know it depends on the channel, but I've found the YouTube comments to be often just as quality as the content itself.
- plorkyeran 5y ago
  YouTubers ask you to leave a comment because they believe that comment engagement is one of the things which results in YouTube recommending your video to people, not because they necessarily care about reading your comments.
  - stolenmerch 5y ago
    For sure, that's definitely part of it. Another big part of it is getting ideas from the comments for new videos to make. This is the "community engagement" part.

throwawaybutwhy 5y ago

Hilarious and gross at the same time. Big Brother^W^W the 'community' (which community?) is watching you, lest you embrace the wrongthink. Next step: 'please reconsider your position on issues A B and C, as there are reasonable indications that your physical address may be leaked to those you disagree with'.

extheat 5y ago

Doesn’t sound that bad. They should of course provide more context as to what triggered the email. Since this is most likely fully automated I don’t think the technical solution to that is too far from reality. As a platform as much as I or anyone else might dislike their policies and decisions, it’s unequivocally their call as to what content they want to allow and what not, for any or no reason. I don’t view reaching out to users as a bad thing.

coolso 5y ago

Hey Elon, when you're done fixing Twitter, please buy 10% of Google next, thanks.

drexlspivey 5y ago

Make sure to put as many positive keywords as you can in the textbox so the AI won’t ban you

zhfliz 5y ago

> Push back against online censorship, cancel culture, and privacy invasion. > Informed by principles on digital rights. surely a trustworthy site both claiming to be pro privacy and in the same notice asking for your email address instead of letting you access the page immediately.