The Downfall of Youtube (for me, anyway)
It really all started when Google took over. I think that Youtube was never really the same again, as it had previously been totally independent. Yes, it was still run by the same person for a while, Chad Hurley, but the fact is Google now have total control on how its run.
I really don't blame Chad Hurley for selling and later running (he resigned as CEO in October 2010), but I still think that it would have been nice for him to keep it a bit longer and make improvements. A bit like Mark Zuckerberg is doing with Facebook, but except that he has no intention at all of selling.
Why has it been a downfall? For the simple reason that by "upgrading" stuff, they are actually just complicating things. The new layout update they did a few months ago for example (the one where they changed the subscribe button from the side to the top). It hasn't greatly improved anything, and I have a funny feeling that it takes several seconds longer to load than the old page, just because it's more complex and complicated.
The final thing that does annoy me, and it might surprise some people, is all the annotations they now allow you to put in the video. Now what I really hate is that some people go way to far with them and I don't get when people give you another link to their channel/to subscribe using the video annotations. There are already really obvious links for both of them on the page. Nobody needs another link/annotation to click.
Henry Taylor-Gill Dec 19, 2010 at 11:50 AM
Reader Comments (2)
Ya it sucks bro, but either cope with the changes or just don't use it. Stop crying about them changing their own site that clearly doesn't pose a problem to millions of the other users including me.
Your reasons are completely unjustifiable. YouTube, like any company, is always updating and adding new features to their website-- it's an inherent trait in any tech corporation. The fact that Google joined them has nothing to do with their supposed downfall. If anything, Google's takeover would have made them even better of a company. I'm not sure you're aware of the myriad of amazing, free services Google provides-- surely that innovative zest has been carried over to YouTube HQ as well. And these updates aren't bad at all. Had YouTube never update, we wouldn't have search suggestions, we wouldn't have high quality videos, and the experience of the website would feel outdated.
Lastly, you do know there is a feature to disable annotations on a video, it's on the bottom right corner of the video player. Use it and stop complaining.