YouTube begins rolling out new comment system featuring Google+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVGp8Z8Yb28

There’s little question we all would love to see an improvement in the quality and flow of YouTube video comments. That’s why the introduction of a “better commenting” system is beginning this week is cause for hope. Diving right in, we’ll take a look at what Google suggests as the three main takeaways with this comment system:

• Comments you care about move to the top: You’ll see posts opportunities the top of the list from the video’s creator, popular personalities, engaged discussions about the video, and people in your Google+ Circles. You can still see the most recent comments by switching from “Top Comments” to “Newest First.”
• Join the conversation publicly or privately: You can choose to start a conversation so that it is seen by everyone, only people in your Circles, or just your bestie. Like Gmail, replies are threaded so you can easily follow conversations.
• Easily moderate comments: If you also post videos on your channel, you’ll have new tools to review comments before they’re posted, block certain words or save time by auto-approving comments from certain fans.

As Google begins moving the YouTube user base over to the Google+ commenting system, you will still be in control of what is seen publicly on YouTube, and that includes keeping your current YouTube channel name, your own name, or creating a new one.

Let’s be honest, YouTube comments are the root of all internet evil, and I’m hopeful that a new commenting system, one which does more to promote quality conversation, will actually push users toward quality comments. It all sounds nice in theory, but how this plays out in the “real world” of YouTube’s nightmarish comment section is anyones guess.

Update: The new comments are now rolling out to the YouTube Android app as well. No update required.