Google Starts to clean up Youtube Comments | Hacker News Reader

Google Starts to clean up Youtube Comments

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44 pointsChuckMcM34 comments

Something I really disliked was youtube videos that moderate comments actively to warp what it seems people are saying. I was really hoping this would be addressing that but sadly it doesn't seem to be.

For example if you go on a free energy video or a water powered car video you'll notice that normally none of the comments explain why it fake. This is normally because the author is removing the comments that say this (or simply having all comment have to be approved first).

This means that as people read through the comments they get a really warped sense of what people are commenting where they think all 1 million people who viewed the video thought that the video was legit. There's no way to tell if a video's comments are being deleted or have to be approved. Sometimes I might right a long comments just to see "waiting for approval" when I post it. At that point I know the comment will never be viewed by anyone...

But they are addressing it:

If you Follow Bill Nye or Neil deGrasse Tyson, putting them in a Science circle, for instance, and they comment on a YouTube video, you'll see that at the top of the comments.

But can't the video creator still just delete the comment?

Yes they can, but on those videos, you have to be aware of what you're commenting on.

Those free energy, perpetual motion, water powered car etc... etc... videos aren't scientific. They're religious in nature and when you challenge their beliefs, they will respond in kind as if you've questioned a miracle.

But really, I don't think it's a good idea to stop uploaders from pruning their own video comments. That could have other repercussions so, let them censor logic all they want.

The solution to these videos popping up is to make videos of your own explaining in detail why they can't work. Call them "The truth behind free energy" or the like. Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson are already famous and they will have an audience. If you cultivate your own, you can properly make a stance.

Fight fire with fire, as they say.

I think Randall Munroe did a pretty great job with reddit's 'best' comment ranking[1]. Hopefully youtube will be using something similar.

1: http://blog.reddit.com/2009/10/reddits-new-comment-sorting-s...

Specifically, the sorting algorithm as described by Edwin Wilson (1927) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_proportion_confidence_...) and a more technical digest of the Reddit implementation by Amir Salihefendic (http://amix.dk/blog/post/19588).

To be clear, Randy didn't come up with the algo -- he just pushed really hard to get it implemented. It's a pretty well known algo.

As a sometimes youtube troll, I worry that this will greatly reduce the entertainment value of youtube comments.

What provides entertainment value to "sometimes" trolls is pollution to everyone else. May I suggest that you find a better hobby?

I don't understand your point.

The ability to comment is provided along with the method of voting them up/down and hiding them.

Do you really think that forcing a G+ account to comment will make things better?

I had a similar thought when our local paper started using Facebook accounts for comments. My thought, "If people use their real names ..."

It didn't happen.

Stupid people will post stupid things. It's up to those who want valuable comments to weed through them.

Stupid people will post stupid things. It's up to those who want valuable comments to weed through them.

I wasn't talking about stupid people posting stupid things (although that is a distinct problem). This is about trolls posting provocative things specifically to provoke drama and outrage. What is entertainment value for trolls is noise to everyone else.

There's still plenty of asinine comments in the Android Marketplace after Google forced G+ for ratings/reviews there. Only thing it has done is make it easier to track down bad reviewers if you're a developer to get more feedback for the negative reviews that look like they might be helpful.

I think there's a big difference between making fun, sarcastic, or clever "trolling" comments, and making stupid nonsense pure trolling comments.

I hope this works. As silly as it sounds YouTube comments used to really frustrate me. It was like reading through some of the worst and most stupid content humanity could come up with under every video. I eventually sought out a Chrome extension to block them. YouTube comments could generate great discussion if they're ranked/sorted etc. properly.

Wow this was long over due. More power to them though.

Finally, YouTube comments no longer resemble 4chan. \

Herp derp derp herp derp herp derp derp herp derp.

One of the best Chrome extensions I've ever used.

Looks like this might have finally fixed the brain-dead UI of the youtube comments - following threads has always been terrible.

Slowly but surely, bit by bit, internet freedom is being eroded. The road to hell, etc.

Explain to me how a private company not letting trolls shit up their site is an attack on "internet freedom".

You are entirely welcome to have a YouTubeVideosSuckAndWeMakeFunOfThem.com. That doesn't mean Google must host you.

Overall this is a good thing. There will be a lot less hate speech on Youtube. ;p

PLUR!

thank god - youtubes comment system is a wreck

Censorship is starting?

Not allowing me to spray paint the word fuck on your house is censorship

You have a right to free speech, but you don't have the right to post anything on someone else's server. People will have to make terrible comments from their own blogs or something.

So it's kind of like freedom of the press then? You have freedom of the press as long as you own one.

No, it's kind of like the freedom to kick an obnoxious person out of a private establishment because they are disrupting the other patrons. YouTube is not a government institution.

Sure, or the right to free speech but not in my living room.

Massive public ownership of presses is pretty much a solved problem at this stage.

Yes.

1. go to wordpress.com 2. sign up 3. post away!

If a video owner wants censorship, they've had the option for a long while. At least now there will (I assume) be an option to keep conversation allowed while also keeping things more civil.

About time. If you pee on a strangers carpet, y'ah gonna get smacked. If you write rude and provocative comments on someone's video...

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