There are bad comments, and then there is the seventh level of commenting hell known as YouTube comments. The video service is now hoping to turn those conversations into something that doesn't make you want to take a shower and weep for mankind.
Yes, today YouTube announced that its commenting system is getting an overhaul. The current system drops the latest post right at the top of the comment section. The upcoming system will use several factors to determine which posts float to the top of the conversation. Posts by the video creator, "popular personalities," posts with engaged conversations, and posts from your Google+ friends will appear at the top of the stream of comments.
The move is supposed to help create conversations instead of a deluge of one-off statements and poisonous vitriol. An updated moderator tool will block certain words and could cut down on some of the worst comments from even showing up on the site.
The update also tightly integrates YouTube with Google+. Conversations on YouTube and Google+ about a video are cross-posted to both sites. By using the Google+ circles to dictate who sees what you have to say about a video, you can determine how many people see your posts. Plus, you can uncheck the ability to cross-post your comment.
How much this will limit the hate-speech found under the average YouTube video is anyone's guess. But it's nice to see YouTube trying something. The site plans on rolling out the update to video pages over the next few months. Until then, please, don't read the comments.
