
Ask HN: Did YouTube ever remove the G+ requirement? - corndoge
https:&#x2F;&#x2F;googleblog.blogspot.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;07&#x2F;everything-in-its-right-place.html<p>http:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtube-global.blogspot.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;07&#x2F;youtube-comments.html<p>These blog posts from 104 days ago said that it would no longer be necessary to have a Google+ account to comment &#x2F; upload &#x2F; otherwise interact with YouTube &quot;in the coming weeks&quot;. It&#x27;s been almost four months now and I still get prompted to make a G+ account for most of these actions. Is it just me or did they never deliver?
======
okasaki
Only if have a pre-G+ youtube account, and only 14 days after you've connected
it to G+.

So technically yes, but I imagine very, very few people qualify.

[https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2657858?hl=en](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2657858?hl=en)

~~~
armada651
So you still need to get a G+ account first if you don't want to have to use
G+ on youtube?

This is as bad as that dialog on youtube that asks you to create a G+ Account,
a G+ Page or fuck off.

------
jug
I've deleted my G+ account and I'm still kind of confused over what works or
not. It's even designed so that you can no longer save clips to a list of
yours (including "Favorites" or "Watch later") from the video clip page itself
-- this brings up the "Join Google+" page.

But! Since your lists and their contents are still accessible, it made me
wonder...

And it was shown that if you click on the upper left "hamburger" icon, scroll
to the "Playlists" section, pick a playlist... Well, then the list is shown
along with a fully functioning "Add video clip" button, which adds a video
clip to the selected list on your disconnected account. Uuugh. I can only
imagine it is to push users (back) to Google+...

So, AFAIK, you get to keep your YouTube account which can still store which
clips you like and dislike, you can save them to default or custom playlists
after jumping through some hoops, but you can't comment, your channel seems to
be gone, and you can't upload new clips. All those "can'ts" bring up the "Join
Google+" page for me now.

So in essence, if you are a creator, you seem to need a Google+ account. If
you are a consumer and OK with not commenting, you don't need Google+.

------
timothya
From the YouTube Help Center:

 _" You'll soon be able to comment, upload, and create channels without
Google+. The comments you make on YouTube will appear only on YouTube and not
also on Google+ (and vice versa). Check out our blog post for more information
and keep an eye on this article for updates."_

Building a comment system at the scale of YouTube (while preserving the
existing set of comments), along with creating a new identity system for it is
likely not a small amount of work. I'd guess that they're still working on
making it a reality.

~~~
aikah
> Building a comment system at the scale of YouTube along with creating a new
> identity system for it is likely not a small amount of work. I'd guess that
> they're still working on making it a reality.

Well , Youtube had all these things before the G+ insanity.

~~~
timothya
I don't really see how that's relevant; you're talking about a system from
years ago. It's not like they could easily just go back to that, especially
with so many comments stored in the new system.

Furthermore, the G+-powered comments section brought about many new features
that I imagine they wouldn't want to get rid of, like threaded replies, text
formatting, improved ranking and spam detection, moderation tools, and
probably more.

------
nness
In my experience its still a requirement. On the opposite side, "Hangouts On
Air" requires a YouTube account to be created and associated with your G+
account if you want to broadcast.

~~~
dingdingdang
They should have stayed with -1- account system so Google+, Youtube,..etc.
would have been added as services. Why this was not done is beyond me, they
already had the software infrastructure running in terms of how Gmail works
with its various services, all that needed to be done was add G+ and Youtube
to the list? Also it would have meant that people felt safe to try these other
services out rather than ending up with a confusing array of accounts that can
be (at times not) cancelled, merged, and, most of all, have to be managed
separately (and I guess sometimes jointly if "Hangouts On Air" needs to work!)
:/

~~~
nness
I know that experience all too well. I have two linked accounts — one my
private Gmail and one my Google Apps account. So now I have three YouTube
accounts... one for the G+ profile, one for the private email and one for the
Google Apps account. It's maddenning trying to track which one is logged in at
any given time.

------
madeofpalk
What is a 'G+' account? Is there a difference between a regular Google account
that I use to log into Gmail, and a Google+ account?

~~~
armada651
Google+ is Google's social network, like facebook. And I don't want to use
either.

~~~
madeofpalk
I understand what Google+ is, but I don't get what a 'Google+' account is in
relation to logging in to Youtube or Gmail, and its difference to a regular
Google account.

------
z3t4
I can't make comments on Youtube. It doesn't tell me why, but I _think_ it's
because I deleted my G+ account.

------
RP_Joe
I have a youtube account. There is no Google+ linked to it. I cannot make
comments. The account is 3 months old. I have no channel set up. I think you
need a channel to comment.

------
austinstorm
Even though the G+ requirement is a real bummer, there's no denying that
YouTube comments have become slightly less of a cesspool since they
implemented it.

