YouTube and Google+ integration could help brands fight social media abuse

Recently eModeration was invited to an exclusive panel held by YouTube to hear the latest improvements on its user comments, unveiled on 24 September (We hear you: Better Commenting on YouTube) on 24 September 2013. YouTube appears to have listened to public and industry pressure taking action against Twitter trolls on how to deal with abuse and spam on its platform. And the saviour in this fight is going to be YouTube’s integration with Google+ as this will change the way that community managers can moderate comments.

The central development promotes full integration between YouTube and Google+, so there is one consistent identity. It was clear from the session that Google+ is being pushed as a must-have and will be the only way to get full admin comment functionality on YouTube. The developments Google revealed were still in their early stages, but I personally don’t think this is a one-off project from YouTube – watch this space for further developments in 2014!

YouTube integration with Google+: what is changing

• A new commenting system will allow users to sort comments into top comments or chronological (as it does now) – top comments will be ranked by popularity
• Comments made by the creator of the video, for example, brands or artists, will be shown higher on the page
• There will be threaded replies to encourage community interaction
• The new commenting system is powered by Google+ – if you make a comment on YouTube, then you now have the option to share it on Google+
• As part of Google+ users can make comments private, such as within their circle of friends. The video creator will be able to see all public comments but not any private dialogue
• Users can also include links on their comment – moderators will need to police these!

What brands need to do next
Following the announcement, brands and channel owners will have three to six weeks to merge their channels, so if you have a Google+ page it will need to have the same name.

If you don’t have a Google+ page, then you will need to create one to take advantage of this new functionality. If your brand chooses to remain as it is, then you will only have the ability to remove comments as you do currently – you won’t be able to take advantage of the new moderation admin features. If you’re unsure about the role of Google+ and how it will affect your social media presence, then here is one of my previous blogs on how Google+ works.

Conclusion…
This is smart move by YouTube and its owner Google+, allowing deep integration with most other Google products, such as Search, Gmail, Calendar, Drive and Picasa. Instead of using a social network which requires complex integration with other core web tools, or the use of multiple applications to create a single dashboard, Google has built a social platform which is woven tightly with our day-to-day experience of the internet. This will generate more traffic on its own social network platform, something which Google+ wants to achieve as it races to overtake Facebook.

YouTube should also be commended for the stance it is now taking on abuse and spam. Unfortunately, YouTube is often known for outlandish posts, but by allowing brands to effectively moderate users’ comments, it is standing up to the trolls and spammers.

I’m sure this won’t be the first reiteration of YouTube’s user commenting system and we look forward to hearing more from YouTube. What do you think about the move? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

By DMA guest blogger, Lisa Barnett, Senior Community Manager UK & Europe, eModeration

This is an edited version of a blog that first appeared on eModeration. Read the full version here.