Google+ and YouTube
Some time ago Google decided to enforce the connection between YouTube and Google Plus profiles.
Most people at the time seemed to think that what Google were trying to do was to bolster it’s social sharing site by tapping into the existing and future profiles on YouTube.
This was based on the concept that Google were actually interested in Google Plus becoming the social network of choice for the majority of users, a sort of FaceBook, Twitter and whatever killer.
I don’t think that was ever true of Google Plus and is still not true of it.
YouTube have just announced that the mandatory connection of Google Plus profiles to NEW YouTube accounts has been discontinued.
They also have said that over time all YouTube accounts will be able to be disconnected from Google Plus profiles if that’s what you want to do.
The important point to remember is that this is a planned move and is not rolling out instantly.
It will occur over time and the current situation is that if you do have your Google Plus and YouTube accounts connected DO NOT YET doing anything about it.
If you do your YouTube Channel and Profile will be deleted.
The changes as they are only pertain to the creation of NEW accounts.
New accounts will not require a Google Plus profile.
Back to the reasons for this.
The great misunderstanding regarding Google Plus is as I stated earlier.
That is was supposed to be a FaceBook or whatever killer.
My feeling is that the original purpose for Google Plus was to consolidate people’s profiles and presences on the internet so that they could use the information gathered to establish the person’s or website’s authority. Nothing more or less.
Traditionally Google had used the linking of websites together as the main way they could sort and evaluate their search results.
Unfortunately for Google and the user the world knew about it and for a very long time marketers were using this knowledge to manipulate Google’s search results.
Google had to find a way to reduce the impact of linking as a factor because it had become so horribly compromised.
What they turned to was a way that allowed them to establish who or what was an authority in a particular field and use that information to add or reduce weight to a person or website’s authority.
In order to do that they needed to be able to gather people together in one place and discover their influences.
They needed to work out some way as to who were the market leaders and who were the followers, who were experts and who were not.
Google Plus provided a perfect platform for bringing people’s profiles from all over the internet into one place to be analysed at that was the purpose of Google Plus.
So in light of that you may wonder why disconnect YouTube? The answer is simple.
Google Plus was somewhat choking the conversation on YouTube, it was providing an extra barrier to creating an account and in these days of FaceBook video, they wanted to make the whole process as streamlined as possible for the users.
And finally… they have almost certainly worked out another way to track the people active within certain interest ares and probably don’t need it anymore!
- YouTube Creator Blog: Keeping the conversation going
- Google Plus Is No Longer a Requirement Across All Products of Google
- Why YouTube Will Be Better Off Without Google Plus
FaceBook Video Update
There has been a lot of discussion of late regarding the pressure FaceBook has been putting on YouTube with the release of FaceBook’s own dedicated video platform.
The usual cries of it’s going to be a ” …..(insert appropriate market leader name here)…. killer” have been making their rounds creating the usual false impression of what is really going on.
The reality is that from a commercial point of view “some” branded content creators on FaceBook have been getting some pretty stellar results but you have to keep in mind that this really has nothing to do with the average guy making videos.
The FaceBook roll-out and monetization strategy is very much in it’s early stages and to say that it has impacted YouTube in any way is a gross over-statement of the situation.
Even the early statistics that are beginning to become available are indicating that although in some ways, especially the short term, FaceBook seems to be on to something the reality remains that Youtube is still the 900 pound gorilla it always was.
For a closer and more balanced view of the scene check the article below.
- Facebook Video Owns Day One, But YouTube Wins Long-Term
SmartPhone Tips
I have a seventeen year old son who is like most other normal kids (if there is such a thing) who spends a lot of his time fiddling about with his smartphone.
I see him most days chuckling and chortling to himself over some conversation he is having or at some image someone posted or a video of some description.
He frequently rushes over to me in excitement at the discovery of some hugely hilarious video he has just discovered to share it with me and although I make all the right noises the reality is that they are the usual stupid crap that seventeen year olds think are both the height of hilarity and the very essence of sophisticated humor.
The thing that stands out most often to me of these videos and an enormous number of videos posted to the internet is that they are shot so badly.
I don’t mean that I would be expecting them to be shot like a Hollywood blockbuster.
I mean that if you are shooting someone doing something, the very least that you should be achieving is that when you watch the video you can see someone doing something!
Is that too much to ask for?
What I most often see is that whoever is shooting the video does not seem to even be aware that they are shooting a video.
They seem to be just randomly waving their smartphone about in the wind expecting to capturing the events that are unfolding.
I am sure when they get to watch it back later they are absolutely perplexed as to why they can’t see what they shot properly after all, “I was standing right there!”
I am also convinced that at that point of disappointment, they are not wondering why they didn’t get the shot.
They are wondering why the smartphone didn’t get the shot!
There lies the crux of the problem.
Too often the technology available to us today lulls us into this idea that somehow the software or the equipment or perhaps God is going to achieve that result we are looking for.
It is the idea that the technology failed us rather than we failed to correctly or intelligently use the technology.
Shooting with a smartphone is not rocket science.
Compared to a few years ago they are awesome but they still have their limitations.
The good news is that there are only a few simple rules to understand and follow to make your smartphone footage watchable.
The first rule is that if you are shooting something, be aware that it is YOU that is shooting it and you need to act accordingly.
The rest can be found in the link below.
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