Now what's going on with YouTube?

[D'Snowth]

And that's RULLY something that YouTube should let us do... they say the thumbnails are "randomized" as opposed to the old days when they were set at the video's 25%, 50%, and 75% timeline, but there isn't much of a difference, and it always seems like the "randomization" results in the worst possible thumbnail representation of your video.

Apparently, partner channels on the other hand, and people who otherwise pay YouTube for more features not only get to choose their own thumbnails, but apparently you can upload your own title cards as well.

Otherwise, the Dailymotion thing sounds great, very similar to a feature my DVD recorder has in letting you pause and select a still frame for a title/chapter image.

 

[Drtooth]

New incredibly stupid feature...

Yep... very large, cumbersome pictures of specific scenes from the video. Makes sense with a movie... not so much sense with a freaking 30 second commercial.

 

[D'Snowth]

New incredibly stupid feature...

Yep... very large, cumbersome pictures of specific scenes from the video. Makes sense with a movie... not so much sense with a freaking 30 second commercial.

And the thing of it is, the thumbnails aren't even entirely accurate or in sync with the specific points in the timeline of the video.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I'm not seeing that...I get a picture that pops up when I mouse over the timeline, but I'm not seeing a bunch together like that

 

[D'Snowth]

I think they're still working on it, because some videos there are no thumbnails at all, still just the timecode.

 

[frogboy4]

Well, now that Hitler has forced his latest Nazi regime onto us, here is my take on why these NEW new channels suck even more so than the last new channels...

How can the free service of YouTube (however irritating it can be at times) be compared to the murder of 6 million Jews? This statement is not clever, funny or appropriate on a Muppet forum in any context. It is incredibly offensive and idiotic.

I'm not a big fan of the YouTube changes, but the service is free and they offer users exposure they would not likely get if they went through the great time and expense of creating a stand-alone site for their media. Sure, YouTube gets paid in ad revenues, but users are welcome to jump ship if and when something better comes along.

 

[D'Snowth]

How can the free service of YouTube (however irritating it can be at times) be compared to the murder of 6 million Jews? This statement is not clever, funny or appropriate on a Muppet forum in any context. It is incredibly offensive and idiotic.

No, I think you're just a little too overly sensitive about almost everything that's said here that you find to be politically incorrect, this isn't about the murder of Jews, this isn't about the Holocaust, this is a comparison of fascism, as Google and its entities (including YouTube) don't do squat to benefit its members, they don't even pay attention to user feedback or take into consideration whether or not the members like or even benefit from the un-necessary changes or upgrades they make, they just do it because they want to, and nobody has a say so in what happens.

I'm not a big fan of the YouTube changes, but the service is free and they offer users exposure they would not likely get if they went through the great time and expense of creating a stand-alone site for their media.

Yeah, the service is free, BUT, the ensure you get exposure, YOU have to PAY THEM to give you exposure, make you a partner channel, advertise for you, etc. Otherwise, you're just another regular average joe who happens to have a YouTube account.

 

[Hubert]

Otherwise, you're just another regular average joe who happens to have a YouTube account.

Unless your name is Bill, in which case you'd be a regular average Bill who happens to have a YouTube account.

 

[frogboy4]

No, I think you're just a little too overly sensitive about almost everything that's said here that you find to be politically incorrect, this isn't about the murder of Jews, this isn't about the Holocaust, this is a comparison of fascism, as Google and its entities (including YouTube) don't do squat to benefit its members, they don't even pay attention to user feedback or take into consideration whether or not the members like or even benefit from the un-necessary changes or upgrades they make, they just do it because they want to, and nobody has a say so in what happens.
Yeah, the service is free, BUT, the ensure you get exposure, YOU have to PAY THEM to give you exposure, make you a partner channel, advertise for you, etc. Otherwise, you're just another regular average joe who happens to have a YouTube account.

It's extreme to call them fascists, but that's understandable. It's just tiresome and really tacky to bring up Hitler and Nazis in a conversation about anything other than genocide. In the end, this company is still giving us free space and free exposure. It's Google's house and they make the rules. I don't see it as being any different than a young adult still living with their parents and constantly complaining about their mother. There's always the option to save up and move out. They're still the best free option out there and that's probably why they don't care much about feedback. I don't see much need in complaining about free stuff. The fact that anyone can have a free account on their server to upload videos is nice.

Now, the fact that Google is selling the information we type into their search bar...well that is scary! I've started to use alternatives and some of my friends are doing so too. However, their competitors could be doing the same thing. They probably won't even notice the customer drop-off.

 

[Drtooth]

I think the better comparison here is that Youtube is like George Lucas (or Robert Zermeckis if you prefer). Something that was once revolutionary and visionary, that turned into an old fart that's too busy playing with its new toys to do anything of quality, especially against the wishes of fans. Sure it IS there site, they can do whatever they want to it, but those who followed them are completely unsatisfied.

I know of several YT accounts that had to close because they didn't have a Google plus account to connect them to. That's a very weaselly tactic to sign people up for services they don't want.

Not to mention the look is just pilfered from what Facebook changed itself to a couple years ago that facebook users didn't like. And the result is laughably backwards. You can't have friends, just subscribers... you can't comment on each others' walls (that's how I got information that other accounts were closed/banned), and the personal channels layout looks like something AOL dialup, not revolutionary. It's a huge step backward. They might as well be those "table of contents" pages with a blank white screen and pixily lines of text.

Because it's free and number one doesn't mean we shouldn't complain, nor does it mean they're free to ignore those complaints because they can do whatever they want.