YouTube, put DOWN the crack pipe

What the HELL is going on, YouTube?! I went to bed last night and all was well(-ish. As "well" as one can expect from YouTube, these days). But when I woke up and saw my myspace page, I was not a happy camper. I have a bunch of embedded YouTube videos on my page, and every single one now has a hideous search box covering the top portion of the still. LOVELY. I went to the YouTube forums to find I was not the only one with this complaint, it is a new "feature", and there's no way to get rid of it. At least not any way in language that I understand. I've found a couple of workarounds, but they aren't "working around" for ME.

I went to my YouTube channel, and found that all my recent activity was broadcasted in my left column. Of course you can change this in your privacy settings, but by default, they put it up there for the world to see. It's all there: who you've added as a friend, what you've favorited, what you're doing ("VRevis is watching a video!") etc. I unticked that box REAL fast. I DO value my privacy.



I was incensed, and went to post a bulletin, but helloooooooooooooooo! Bulletins have now been removed!! This is another new "feature"!

YouTube posted this entry on these new shinies.

It reads:

"Recent Activity" on Your YouTube Channel

We're happy to announce a couple of new changes to your YouTube channels, based on the feedback and suggestions you've given to us.

The first is the creation of a "Recent Activity" box on your YouTube channel. This box will provide your viewers with a snapshot of recent changes you've made to your public channel, making your channel more dynamic, fresh and timely. For example, if you recently added a new favorite to your channel, visitors can find this favorite in the new Recent Activity box (as well as in the usual "Favorites" box). The Recent Activity box will also consolidate the separate "My Recent Ratings" and "My Recent Comments" boxes into this single activity window.

As always, we give you maximum control over how your channel is configured on the channel design page. And now, the Recent Activity privacy settings page (also available in the upper-right corner of the Recent Activity box) lets you choose what activity you want to appear in the Recent Activity box. It's important to note that we've set your initial Recent Activity settings according to what you already publicly show on your channel today - so, for example, if you're not already showing the Favorites box on your channel, then the Recent Activity box won't suddenly start showing new favorites you make.

Regarding bulletins, we've listened to you, and most of you didn't see the value in bulletins as they are today. So, we're taking a first step to make bulletins more useful. Although the bulletin box will be going away, now you can broadcast a bulletin directly to your channel visitors in your Recent Activity box. This not only provides a fun place to shout out personal updates and news, but also provides an additional way to communicate and engage with your channel's fans.

We hope you like these changes, and are always eager to hear your feedback - so please feel free to share your thoughts with us!

The YouTube Team

My thoughts? The title of this entry says it all.