Re:You know, Google, the web already had this feature
by tomkarlo on Thursday April 11, 2013 @09:32PM
(#5536012)
Unfortunately, everyone browses YouTube. And there's a lot more not-smart people than smart people. (And teenagers have a lot more time on their hands than adults.)
I'd argue the root problem of YouTube comments is that they're not associated with any real community at all, in most cases. There's almost no benefit to posting a good comment, and no penalty to posting a stupid one.
Imagine how stupid the comments would be if everyone watching a TV show with you could post to the same wall.
Re:You know, Google, the web already had this feature
by omegaham on Thursday April 11, 2013 @11:37PM
(#5536474)
This is definitely true. The smart people will be on a community like this, Reddit, or forum, post a link to the video, and discuss it within their own community. Only the idiots will post comments directly onto the video's page.
Re:You know, Google, the web already had this feature
by mercutio2 on Thursday April 11, 2013 @08:38PM
(#5535841)
Really? Why in the world would they do that? Effectively zero of the smart people I know browse YouTube.
Most of my programmer friends listen to podcasts, but I honestly have no idea what smart people do with YouTube.
Re:You know, Google, the web already had this feature
by DanBC on Thursday April 11, 2013 @08:44PM
(#5535854)
Some of the smart people I've heard of are on YouTube.
Re:You know, Google, the web already had this feature
by mercutio2 on Friday April 12, 2013 @12:05AM
(#5536554)
Wow. That article was awesome. The video was cool, too, although it didn't hold my interest like the story did.
The thing is, I don't doubt there's lots of interesting content on YouTube. I just can't conceive of browsing through it for fun. There's too much good stuff to read.
Re:You know, Google, the web already had this feature
by philwelch on Thursday April 11, 2013 @10:08PM
(#5536143)
It's still a decently authoritative source for music.
Re:You know, Google, the web already had this feature
by philwelch on Thursday April 11, 2013 @10:06PM
(#5536132)
Right, but every dumb person you know browses YouTube as well, and comment quality is pulled down by dumb people more easily than it can be pulled up by smart people.
Anything that requires actual reading already has a barrier to entry to the dumbest of the dumb.
The difference is that because Youtube has no moderation in its comments, smart people look at the comments and immediately decide that it's not worth their time. So, the only people who comment are the idiots who just like to see their words on the Internet.