4 ms·

Not a google employee, but this disgusting mistreatment of its users may actually be a good thing if it blows up in their faces. My prediction is that the chan

Not a google employee, but this disgusting mistreatment of its users may actually be a good thing if it blows up in their faces. My prediction is that the change to automatically showing the users g+ profile pic next to comments will be what gets them in hot water by empowering stalkers and trolls. Here's a simple example, if you go to the video for Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball, there are the usual back and forth comments arguing her merits. However, you can now easily spot preteen girls if you were looking for that specific demographic, and then subscribe to them for more efficient creeping. Shame on Google. This behavior is stunningly evil.

minwcnt5 13y ago
What? Hasn't G+ always showed profile pics next to comments? I don't understand why that would suddenly become a problem just because it's now enabled on YT too. It only makes stalking easier in the sense that there's a greater volume of comments to stalk.
- mcphilip 13y ago
  The point is that it makes stalking much more efficient and there's no way to protect oneself from it on YouTube without changing the profile pic. The current #1 submission on HN is from a woman slamming google for this problem [1]. On the YouTube side the poster of the current top comment on the Miley Cyrus video is getting hostile replies based on the profile pic being of a very young girl. [1]https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z12gzxkxvpvautd3d231ylly2oyrtzjlb https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z12gzxkxvpvautd3d23...
  - minwcnt5 13y ago
    If you read the comments on that post or the HN thread you would see that you can link your YT identity to a G+ "page", where you can set the name and profile pic to whatever you want. It sounds like your real issue is with the fact they haven't made this more widely known, or part of the conversion flow. Your original complaint still makes no sense to me and just reads like more of the same knee/circle-jerk reaction.
    - bandushrew 13y ago
      I have seen this banded around a bit, and it really isn't a solution. I 'firewall' different social networks, my YT access and my Google+ access are usually performed in 2 very different contexts and I have no interest in people or personalities leaking from one to the other. Now, you are offering a pseudo anonymous solution, but that is an insufficient firewall for my needs. Maintaining privacy across multiple networks, some of which contain my personal life, some my work life, some my social life and some my internet life is hard. There is simply no freaking way I am going to trust a company which cares a LOT less than I do about my privacy be responsible for maintaining it. BUT luckily this whole thing really doesn't affect me directly, my firewalls have not actually been affected. I was just hoping to communicate why the suggestion you are making is not actually an effective solution for anyone who cares about their privacy.
    - mcphilip 13y ago
      Here's the sequence of thoughts leading to my knee/circle-jerk conclusion of google being stunningly evil. Please point out where it starts going into circlejerk: 1. The youtube comment section is a cesspool of hate and abuse. 2. Lots of minors use youtube and have extensive histories of liked videos and comments tied to their youtube account. 3. Google made an unexpected change from anonymity to requiring a linked Google+ account for commenting. 4. Google+ profile pics are automatically displayed alongside comments. This applies retroactively to all comments, not just ones made after the Google+ requirement change. 5. youtube users, even technical ones, may not be able to figure out how to workaround the problem of wanting a separate youtube profile pic from their Google+ profile pic. 6. In a matter of seconds you can find a comment from a minor based on their profile pic. 7. Clicking on the profile allows you to see the entire history of comments and likes of said minor. 8. Most minors have not yet realized this fact. 9. Google has irresponsibly increased the danger to minors without giving clear instructions for mitigating this. 10. Minors are just one of many classes of users negatively affected by this. Ergo, Google screwed up big time, making a mockery of their "don't be evil" motto.
bluthru 13y ago
I hadn't considered this angle before. It's often touted that transparency would make online discourse safer and more accountable, but stalking is a very real scenario where it would not.
chilldream 13y ago
You'd think they'd have learned from that woman whose info got sent to a stalker ex by the Google Buzz account she didn't want.
judk 13y ago
Preteen girls are not allowed to have accounts. That's COPPA.
- reikonomusha 13y ago
  Well that will surely stop them.
- bashinator 13y ago
  Are you saying that no pre-teen girls have G+ accounts? Or that because COPPA gives Google some legislation to cover their asses if this kind of stalking were to happen, it's OK?
hanspeide 13y ago
Doesn't Facebook comments also show users profile picture? I've never seen anyone criticize the use of Facebook profiles for commenting, and I really don't see the real difference between this and using Google+ for commenting.

minwcnt5 13y ago

What? Hasn't G+ always showed profile pics next to comments? I don't understand why that would suddenly become a problem just because it's now enabled on YT too. It only makes stalking easier in the sense that there's a greater volume of comments to stalk.

mcphilip 13y ago
The point is that it makes stalking much more efficient and there's no way to protect oneself from it on YouTube without changing the profile pic. The current #1 submission on HN is from a woman slamming google for this problem [1]. On the YouTube side the poster of the current top comment on the Miley Cyrus video is getting hostile replies based on the profile pic being of a very young girl. [1]https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z12gzxkxvpvautd3d231ylly2oyrtzjlb https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z12gzxkxvpvautd3d23...
- minwcnt5 13y ago
  If you read the comments on that post or the HN thread you would see that you can link your YT identity to a G+ "page", where you can set the name and profile pic to whatever you want. It sounds like your real issue is with the fact they haven't made this more widely known, or part of the conversion flow. Your original complaint still makes no sense to me and just reads like more of the same knee/circle-jerk reaction.
  - bandushrew 13y ago
    I have seen this banded around a bit, and it really isn't a solution. I 'firewall' different social networks, my YT access and my Google+ access are usually performed in 2 very different contexts and I have no interest in people or personalities leaking from one to the other. Now, you are offering a pseudo anonymous solution, but that is an insufficient firewall for my needs. Maintaining privacy across multiple networks, some of which contain my personal life, some my work life, some my social life and some my internet life is hard. There is simply no freaking way I am going to trust a company which cares a LOT less than I do about my privacy be responsible for maintaining it. BUT luckily this whole thing really doesn't affect me directly, my firewalls have not actually been affected. I was just hoping to communicate why the suggestion you are making is not actually an effective solution for anyone who cares about their privacy.
  - mcphilip 13y ago
    Here's the sequence of thoughts leading to my knee/circle-jerk conclusion of google being stunningly evil. Please point out where it starts going into circlejerk: 1. The youtube comment section is a cesspool of hate and abuse. 2. Lots of minors use youtube and have extensive histories of liked videos and comments tied to their youtube account. 3. Google made an unexpected change from anonymity to requiring a linked Google+ account for commenting. 4. Google+ profile pics are automatically displayed alongside comments. This applies retroactively to all comments, not just ones made after the Google+ requirement change. 5. youtube users, even technical ones, may not be able to figure out how to workaround the problem of wanting a separate youtube profile pic from their Google+ profile pic. 6. In a matter of seconds you can find a comment from a minor based on their profile pic. 7. Clicking on the profile allows you to see the entire history of comments and likes of said minor. 8. Most minors have not yet realized this fact. 9. Google has irresponsibly increased the danger to minors without giving clear instructions for mitigating this. 10. Minors are just one of many classes of users negatively affected by this. Ergo, Google screwed up big time, making a mockery of their "don't be evil" motto.

bluthru 13y ago

I hadn't considered this angle before. It's often touted that transparency would make online discourse safer and more accountable, but stalking is a very real scenario where it would not.

chilldream 13y ago

You'd think they'd have learned from that woman whose info got sent to a stalker ex by the Google Buzz account she didn't want.

judk 13y ago

Preteen girls are not allowed to have accounts. That's COPPA.

reikonomusha 13y ago
Well that will surely stop them.
bashinator 13y ago
Are you saying that no pre-teen girls have G+ accounts? Or that because COPPA gives Google some legislation to cover their asses if this kind of stalking were to happen, it's OK?

hanspeide 13y ago

Doesn't Facebook comments also show users profile picture? I've never seen anyone criticize the use of Facebook profiles for commenting, and I really don't see the real difference between this and using Google+ for commenting.