YouTube Changes Again *Everybody Groans*

[Cyclenall]

As you have probably noticed, YouTube within the last several weeks has once again changed the way YouTube looks and functions for the umpteenth time now. This latest change was one of the largest ones to date since the largest change occurred around March 2010 which effectively made YouTube vastly worse. This summer the video box changed to a black one with pretty much the same features on the bar below however the way it functioned differed like moving down and out of sight once your cursor moved out of the way for a few seconds. There were things I did not like about it but it wasn't that huge of a deal and I could live with it. I didn't find it to improve upon anything so it was basically a pointless change. All it did was contrast with the background and have an annoying problem which was later fixed and adjusted. Then the madness started months later.

A beta for me in Canada went into effect sometime in early November which changed the layout again for the video page which was quite simply idiotic. First of all, the background colour changed to a dull grey which looked like just that...dull. Then the YT logo changed to a darker red and smaller form. Again...worse looking. Then, there were all sorts of glitches with the bars and "Show more" button. The comments looked much worse and were formatted poorly (spacing). The stats bar which you click on to see more also looked silly to the background. Thankfully it disappeared a week later and I thought finally the YT team which is good for nothing (basically Google staff) had come to reason that it did nothing useful and made things look and be worse. Well, I shouldn't of given them even that because at the end of November they really put in the finishing touches of their BS.

To my horror, not only were those changes put in again (basically a complete switch-over worldwide), but more than that which screwed up everything even further were put into place. Now the video page scrolls slower than ever before (like as if I was using a old computer or something and this is a new one), the icon is a play icon instead of YouTube's logo (hate it), videos I'm watching might (I have to test this more) even have more choppy playback at certain times during any particular video (never was an issue before), comment section is horrible looking (unneeded spaces everywhere), page is long to scroll, useless space at the very bottom of the video page, black text for video titles (ugly), (In the video bar) 3 icons for window video size which was pointless because the old button was enough instead of taking even more space in the bar, "Channels" button taken out from the top of the page beside the search bar (Now has movies button and wasn't this whole change system designed around Channels in the first place? Seems like the opposite!), When hovering your cursor over a comment, the vote up or down buttons to the right are now no longer colour coded when you hover over them and the little text that appears above is pure white which contrasts a lot; Reactions side thing to the comments gone (never sure what that was), and the stuff that is at the bottom before the pointless space is all grey which doesn't look good. All of what I described here are just complaints on the VIDEO page. There are a lot more for the next YouTube destroying changes they just implemented:

Front page: I can't comment on this without looking at a video or web page not affiliated with YT of it since every time I go to the main page it crashes my browser (FireFox). Funny enough, it works with IE6 (with the annoying "upgrade your browser" message). It has been crashing my browser every time since June 2011. So they make all these changes to "improve" YT while still ignoring the most glaring problems that actually do matter. Another glitch ignored is more about my Internet connection to their servers. Very recently to my delight, my Internet was upgraded to an extremely fast one (Fibre Optic Internet to the Home) in which my download speeds using Speedtest.net show download speeds somewhere between 55-76 Mbps!!! Most servers won't fetch the data that quick however with Google and YouTube I expect fairly fast downloads (at least 30 Mbps). I first tested 720p video and it was incredible, loaded a 5:30 video in just 14 seconds. However, when it's set to 240p, 360p, or even 480p quality, it's as slow as molasses in January. It's actually even slower than it was previously!! Now, this is definitely not my end or Internet connection causing this, it's a YouTube glitch. All times of the day this occurs. What I notice is the buffering of one of these videos will be extremely fast for the first 1 second and then grind to a halt and slow rapidly. This sort of happened 2 years ago up until last year with my old Internet. Why this is occurring with Fibre Internet is a mystery. It most likely is a YouTube glitch since no other video website or online video does this except the laughably bad MSN video. So instead of fixing certain real problems that have existed on YT, they instead make more.

Channel Page: Now this got my blood boiling (CosmicPanda). This was probably the most recent change as per a statement from YT's team; "And more changes are coming." This is code for, "We're going to screw more things up for users soon." I was shocked to see the entire page was dealt with in a hideous fashion for any channel page. Where did all the good stuff go? It's not only ugly and cumbersome, but now destroyed. Everything that was great about the old channel page is gone and I'm PISSED. What is wrong with these people? Comments on channel page is hidden (it does exist apparently), no icons or links for Friends, Subscribers, or Subscriptions to be found, just a number which is dumb; user info on the right is ugly, thumbnails of videos are very large which makes it harder to browse and scan, streamlined system of videos on user's channel is replaced by a garbage layout that is much worse, I seem to not be able to even watch videos while still on the channel page!!!, and some buttons are actually missing. Thanks YouTube for putting channels more in focus by actually doing the exact opposite!

So now I'm trying to think WTH they were thinking. There is outrage however finding videos on the outrage is basically non-existent for some reason but clumped in with many other videos from users irked by changes of past. I see a tremendous amount of negative feedback on other areas and I haven't really seen one positive comment about the new changes. The exact same happened after the ridiculous changes from March 2010. You think the staff would take a hint but instead try and jam corporate glossy fluff and simplicity down millions of throats. Just because something is shiny and pretty it doesn't mean it's more functional or easier to use. Remember when the users controlled the site and not corporations? I blame Google for it, yes they are good for providing the absurd amount of resources and money needed to run it but I liked the management before it got sold to Google; they behaved themselves until late 2009. Another thing Google did was change their own main page to a pop up rectangle with the options? How was that better? Looks bad and takes longer to select another search medium. Here are some thoughts: Would it be so hard to give users an OPTION to have it like the old format and style? Would it be so hard to have a vote on the issue? I spend a lot of time on YouTube, this is why I'm so angry. And the worst part is there is nothing one can do in terms of an alternative. There is no alternative to YT...it's the centralized depot for video on the Internet because of the base...probably well over 500,000,000 videos uploaded which dwarfs every other source of video by light-years. That means everyone is stuck with it.

I'm pretty desperate to find a way to change these problems back and with it being on the computer and all, I'm sure there is a way since anything is possible. I've heard of extensions on browsers that make certain YT styles come back (something I recently just learned that is, from reading the comments) but now it's "forcing" the change or something similar to that effect. This idea would go deeper than that: something should be done by the open source community where we focus our rage into a YouTube filter for a web browser...a huge undertaking but worth it. It would basically be a large extension on FireFox or any other browser and override the layout of the new YT and have flash, HTML, and imagery modules pre-loaded. Every time you are on a YouTube page it would do that and the content that is unique would be filling the "gaps" from YT's servers. I imagine this would be very difficult and a huge undertaking for many people but if so many people use the site and frequently, maybe this should be considered. Tons of errors and bugs would come up and things would have to be ironed out on a constant basis, like if YouTube changes again. Advanced knowledge of FireFox (any browser), HTML, Flash would be required and how they interact. Even if YT changes the fundamentals of their uploading method to the end user, I think tweaks could be made to adjust. I saw only one other user mention this idea on the Internet before but I think it's a good one.

I'm sure most of us here on Storm2K use YouTube so we should all be aware of how fast YT is being dumbed down and ruined. Please voice your outrage and if possible send negative feedback to either one of Google's forums or YouTube's feedback feature (just is Google as well). Guess what, you have to be a registered user to send feedback this time unlike last time when you could just fill out a simple form on YouTube about their disastrous changes (I sent a scathing one during then). This is nonsense. Basically I think this one comment from someone else who was unhappy (like everyone else) with the recent developments summed it up well: "In closing, I hope you idiots are happy, because we aren't."

Petition(s) for reversing bad new design:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/keep-t ... upgrading/

Previous Thread on YouTube's Major Change from March 2010:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=107735

[Cyclenall]

Update: Some great news, three weeks ago or so I noticed that some of the channel's layouts are back to normal before the hideous changes that were put forth. I have only checked around 6 and can't find any official information about any change since early December 2011. The question remains as to whether the terrible layout is the default and channel users have the option to revert back to the old one or the other way around. I was hoping that YouTube completely removed the new layout option but that doesn't look to be the case because some channels still have the new layout. They should have the old layout be default and if some channel user was crazy enough to continue with the inferior new one, they could. There are some very minor changes to the "old layout" like: The "Friends" module can't be found anywhere (I'm not registered so maybe only registered users can see it), the comment box doesn't have numbered buttons but just a "next" button to flip through the pages of comments, and when you are watching any video on one's channel page in the video dock, the date and video uploader info is unchanged from what is was for the first video that loaded on there. These changes are minor but not good and should also be reverted back.

It doesn't appear as though any other part of YouTube was changed.

[Cyclenall]

Update (December 7, 2012): Well folks, the boneheads have been at it again, this time screwing over the main video page and I believe homepage as well. I was stunned when I looked at a video yesterday, the page is even more disfigured then ever before and they call this an improvement? They basically looked for new ways to make it even worse and they succeeded and many people are getting too tired to put up with the BS. There was nothing good about this latest change and I have no doubt these people are either insane or just finishing off the layout. Now we have a white background instead of the new grey one that took over in 2011...which is funny because that was the original way it was before the huge change in March of 2010. The only problem is all the lifeless crap is still on the page! Where to start, all the information is now under the video including the title...seriously? For real, after all of YT's changes I would notice how the title remained steadfast and was usually a bright point in the overall scheme (sad that that would be a strong point...a title) but it didn't escape this change. Now its at the bottom for no damn good reason. Who in their right mind thinks this is better? ITS A JOKE!!! Their explanation for it was a joke as well, everything they state is either a lie or the opposite. If they wanted to fix anything and everything all they had to do was revert the entire website back to pre-March 2010 era. Everything was perfect then, now everything is broken, lazy, ugly, cumbersome, and off-putting. Here is another dumb glitch, you can't highlight or select the title text of the video in anyway! There goes the ease of copying titles! Thanks YouTube design team! What other polished turds do you have in the oven awaiting us all to piss off the maximum number of users possible? If you read their email about the new changes members get from their subscription (its below in this post), you'll read there are more changes to come in 2013 to every part of YouTube...December 21, 2012 ain't looking that bad now. They're trying to make the design look more sleek everytime and modern but by doing so the ratings bar that is green and red (now just green for no reason) for likes and dislikes is now at record thin size and if the trend continues, it will be gone altogether because there is only so much you can do to "thin" something. Now there is no red for the ratio of dislikes which was another terrible decision, good going guys!

As I said eariler, the background is now white again but the other previously removed feature to finally come back was the avatars for user's comments. It's a bit too large and I prefer the older and smaller size when they existed. I didn't even remember them being gone until they came back but its better than nothing. Those were minor things to return for the better but all the most important factors changed for the worse. At the very top where the search bar is, the movies and channels button are not there anymore. Just upload. Too simple even though I don't use those other buttons. The logo at the top is even smaller now and the design team "blessed" us with unnecessary space to the left that sticks out horribly. There is a drop down menu with options that are useless and out of place. One word...why? I even heard that this reverted old design covers up background art on user's channels that you see on the watch page. All that hard work for nothing thanks to the thoughtful design team. For the information below the video, its more disorganized than before and now when you click on other tabs on the Google styled bar it replaces that space with the different information making it one viewable tab at a time type crap. They didn't even bother to enhance the statistics section where the map was removed sometime this year, again for no reason. None of the clever responses to videos or in response to sections were revived just before you see the main comments. As for the actual contents, the main layout was left the same in terms of uploader's comments, top comments, etc. but the single individual ones were improved by putting the usernames back at the top and the location of the thumbs up or down buttons. Its still not as good as pre-2010 but slightly better. What is a new fa paux is the removal of the numbered pages button for comments...now its just a "load more" button. Now we can't jump? More options taken away. Finally, the suggested videos are still left the same in an awkward style that never seems to show improvement. The preview images are still too large and it should be in a more confined box with scroll bar. A option for "videos from that user" to the right like the good old days should also be present. There is some weird stuff going on at the top right part of the watch page that probably sucks too.

To different parts of YouTube now, the channel page remains in its destroyed state where it has become totally unusable after being great a year or so ago. As you can see in my post above, there was a brief period of hope where old channel pages came back for users that did not switch to the new one. Unfortunately, its been an extremely long time since I've seen the old design and I think its likely they forced the switch on everyone now. Kudos to the team for dangling a carrot in front of us and then annihilating the carrot in secret to taunt us. Its so awful that I avoid it after using it often in the past. To the search results pages, there also has been a change in December aside from the various changes that have been made during the past year, all annoying. One of the filter columns has been removed that I used and was useful during big events that had lots of new videos being added in real time or very recently. It might have been called "Sort Type" or something similar but it had options to sort by most recent, highest rated, most views, etc. You can kiss that useful filter goodbye for no good reason. Screw that. The video icons are still too large on this page and the light blue highlight for the titles doesn't work. The rest is bland. To the homepage, I haven't checked it out much and I frankly don't want to...I heard its still bad.

There has been minor changes throughout the year but they seem to do the largest ones around the start of December (forced changes after beta testing). The minor changes this year caused some more grief but nothing compared to this. The player has also been altered and looks more simple and sharp. This was a neutral change IMO. What I'm starting to notice is every video seemingly has ads now, a very unwelcome change. It used to be certain videos but even random low-watched vids get them and more often. This can be bypassed through many methods but it shows where Google's head is at in terms of the experience they want to give the user. There is a feedback button on every page to give your opinion once again but as before, you have to be a registered user of Google/YouTube to get your voice heard...or not heard as per their history. I heard that they will have a live chat session about the "improvements" they have made and certain questions the populous has will be voted on and the top ones will be addressed by the design team. I believe this is an illusion to fool users thinking they have any say in how YouTube evolves from here, history tells us this. There is no way any of these disturbed designers give a fart as to the reactions of most of the base. They tell you what is good and leave it at that, making it into MeTube.

I'd like to post the message the YT team sent to some through email:



I don't know if I've ever come across a more ironic message or letter that had so many opposites/lies that its comical. The exact opposite of that entire message is the truth. YouTube is getting better? Who says this? I've never heard a single user say that and everyone except the 0.01% say its always getting worse. Then you have them pretending that they are taking our advice and using it to "improve" YT. Nope, don't buy it. The disconnect couldn't be larger. The 2nd bullet point in the mini-list of what they are changing just shocked me at how utterly stupid it was and almost gave me chills that someone wrote that. If that wasn't a joke, I'm scared for that person's sanity. The other improvements as they say highlighted were never important and are so minor compared to everything else. There is this obsession with the subscribe box that has been ongoing for years now but really moving it and changing it every week isn't going to help...but they don't know that. Here's another quote: "We know change isn't easy, so we don't take it lightly" - Um, no you do take it lightly considering you're destroying it all the time and creating new problems every month! Just insane. Change isn't easy when you make it worse for no reason. Their "experiments" and "research" show these changes to be better and hold more users to channels? I believe these were always lies like the drug companies do on drug research. The 2nd last paragraph was also a total prank...more changes are coming in 2013 to improve channels and other sections...as always, we always take your input to guide our thinking and planning...what RUBBISH!!!!! What next, are you going to write that Bill Gates is the current CEO of Apple? And lastly, "Let's keep building the future of video together" ... *facepalm* How about the users take back YouTube and throw out the staff behind all these changes to the curb and laugh. They believe they're "building" the future of video . No, your not building anything, your just messing up what was already built in the first place!

Thankfully, there is a bright side to all of this and that is the awesome and dedicated programmers who graciously devote time to producing web scripts for modern browsers to force design changes of their will and the user's preference. Many scripts as what add-ons allow are popping up now to revert certain looks and features to old or better interfaces. Its not perfect but still amazingly better then anything the clowns put out that run YT. Maybe one day there will a large enough group to pull together the ultimate fix and maintain it everytime YouTube changes which often breaks the script. This just happened but they are scrambling to re-write major parts currently. Here is a link to one of the largest scripts for the watch page that was recently re-done for the new changes:

http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/101753

It's called Better Watch Page and there are many other scripts on that site to fix the damage. It's our web so we don't have to accept the forced bitterness they churn out.

[tolakram]

I watched a fail video once, a long time ago. Mostly I watch reef tank videos, weather related videos, some game review videos.

1st video on new page, something reef related. Second video, some fail video with a girl in a tanning bed.

I'm trying to figure out how to navigate ... I have to add a channel to see what's popular?

At least I figured out how to hide fail videos. This looks like facebook. I hate facebook.

[Cyclenall]

Update: When you search for videos, the filter options that I said were removed in the latest changes actually are back now. It was the "Sort by" column that had Relevance, Upload date, View count, and Rating. That is a welcome sight and somewhat of a relief but there is a lot of damage.