Posted on by Frank - Follow me on Twitter

4481461680 4273d06822 Did You Know YouTube Was Capable Of Failure?

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Say It Isn’t So, YouTube!

There’s no denying that YouTube is the number one place for video on the Internet.  There’s so much content uploaded there on a daily basis.  While most of it we consume for pure entertainment purposes, there’s one thing about the YouTube community that is lacking on the social front.  If there’s one thing I’m sick of and I know there are plenty of other people who are tired of this, its the countless number of dick heads (pardon my French) who comment on videos.  I understand its not everyone, but believe me, there’s a high volume of individuals there who continuously criticize the videos made by others.  Its common for people to criticize, but constructive criticism is acceptable.  If you’re simply out there to bring down someone, you really need to look in the mirror and ask yourself what makes you so special?  If you think you can do it better, make your own videos!

Let’s Attribute Responsibility To These Trolls

This may sound like I’m pissed off because someone ripped one of my videos to shreds. Actually, this didn’t happen at all.  Its just the constant negative comments I’ve seen on videos made by others.  This isn’t to say it can’t happen to me because it absolutely can.  I think the main reason why these trolls like to sit around and rip other people to shreds is because they get to hide behind a username.  How about we change that, YouTube?  Let’s have it be there actual names!  Let’s see how these 14 year olds are now once they can no longer hide behind an alias?  Will they be ask quick to make a smart ass comment at this point?  There still will be some that won’t care regardless, but that just goes to show the maturity level of the YouTube commenters.  These types of people really give a bad name to the YouTube community.  I really find it funny that the majority of them are immature teenagers, believe it or not.

Its Time To Fix The Culture And Community

Obviously YouTube is a place for producing content and promoting social interaction.  It is a central focus of the “social media” world we live in today, but we are always going to have people ruining it for everyone.  Granted, negativity and trolls are going to exist in any social community, but I’ve never seen one to a higher degree than what’s going on with YouTube. Not to downplay anything, but I love YouTube and really enjoy the platform.  I just think we need to weed out the bad seeds by making them accountable for their actions.  Now this doesn’t mean we stop them from being rude to people…that can’t be controlled, but just imagine how much better the conversations would be if we exposed and made public the names behind the trolls.  Privacy wouldn’t be invaded at all.  Twitter shows the names of people sharing content.  Its definitely time for YouTube to step up and take a stance.

Where Does Your Position In The YouTube Community Stand?

I can understand if you don’t really care about what people say in the comments on YouTube and that’s perfectly fine.  However, here’s my question – is the reason you don’t care about the comments made on YouTube because of the fact that there’s no actual community?  Do you feel like the aspect of social media doesn’t exist on this platform?  I could be completely wrong, but I have heard others have similar opinions about YouTube like I have.  I definitely want to know what changes YouTube should make and whether or not you disagree with my points.  It just seems like changes need to come…it’s just long overdue.

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Posted in YouTube | Comments (4)

  • Tim Lindop

    I once ran a non-profit in a small, Vermont Town. There was a local community blog which took pride in protecting the “anonymity” of its users. The result, when people disagreed with me, rather can calling me up and having a discussion, they said extraordinarily hateful things on the blog. I saw this happen to a small town mayor in MA. Rather than call, they preferred juvenile name-calling on the internet. In both cases, the commentators were hiding under the cover of anonymity. I now belong to several user groups, online, where the discussions are respectful in tone when in disagreement. These sites insist on commentators using their real names. Coincidence? I think not Anonymity on the internet was one of those cherished ideals in the beginning of net’s spread; it didn’t work and should be regarded as a failed experiment.

  • http://www.socialtechzone.com Frank

    I’ve always felt that most commentators online really don’t have anything to bring to the table except spam or rip someone else’s work apart. Granted, this isn’t everyone, but your experience that you shared just goes to show that many people don’t know the true meaning of contributing. They view conversations in a way where if they disagree, they want to discredit everything you have said and put you down. I believe you can disagree with people in a constructive way. With the internet giving you the ability to remain anonymous, many people see that as an opportunity to say what they want with no consequences. I do agree that it is a failed experiment and we need to find ways to improve conversations and make people accountable for what they share.

  • http://dedicatedemailserverhosting.com/ jeff

    I still believe that youtube is not a typical online community like facebook, or myspace. I believe it is a repository for sharing video like flickr to photos. I’ve understand the work involved to created a good video, so I do care if a site or work get ripped to shreds unfairly.

  • http://www.socialtechzone.com/ Frank

    I think your description is perfect, Jeff. It is definitely a repository for sharing video. I’d say Facebook and Twitter are much better examples of a solid community. They provide value instead of ripping on people just because they dislike someone’s way of sharing information.