#1) Remove the ‘Mark as Spam’ option so that only the VIDEO UPLOADER can mark the comment as spam. This feature is currently abused by trolls to silence comments they don’t agree with — even the responses from the person who made the video to begin with. On that note, remove the “this comment has too many negative votes” feature too.

#2) Get rid of the ‘highlights for feeds’ garbage. Implement a better subscription feed system that is designed to accomodate people who follow 2,000 channels, which is the max number of subscriptions you can have.

#3) Allow me to send an email newsletter to my Youtube subscribers. People should not have to be logged into Youtube at the precise time I post a status update for them to be able to see it. They should also not have to track every Youtube channel via RSS feed. Emailing newsletters are simply more efficient ways to alert my subscribers of new videos.

#4) I want to know who is putting ads on my videos. The Youtube ToS don’t allow me to watch ads on my own video, so I have no way of knowing what the viewers are seeing and if those ads might be turning them off from my content through association.

#5) I want to be able to upload my old Youtube channel background again. Youtube was about developing your own brand identity, and now you’re trying to force Google’s brand identity on everyone.

#6) The Youtube “connect to Google+ Page” feature was done in the most horrible way imaginable. Put everything back the way it was, and try again.

This time, try to figure out a way to do it without forcing me to make a brand new Youtube channel and Google Account. When I connect my Youtube to a Facebook Page, I don’t have to make a brand new anything. Why you decided this was a good idea for Google+ integration is impossible for me to comprehend.

#7) Get with the times. Abandon Flash and throw all your weight behind the HTML5 player. Then maybe Internet Explorer’s dev team and everyone still using Windows XP would be forced to upgrade so they can continuing watching silly cat videos.

#8) Stop filling the ‘Games’ category listing with let’s play channels. Stop filling the ‘Entertainment’ category with big name channels full of 30 second clips from TV Shows, and movie trailers.

Start promoting the creators making full feature TV production level stuff. Part of the reason Youtube is struggling to turn into TV 2.0 is because you keep rewarding mediocrity, and people don’t know good content exists unless they spend hours digging through the search results.

Signed,

 

Author

Carey Martell is the President of Martell Broadcasting Systems, Inc. He is also the founder of the Power Up TV multi-channel network (acquired by Thunder Digital Media in January 2015). Carey formerly served as the Vice President of Thunder TV, the internet television division of Thunder Digital Media. In the past he has also been the Director of Alumni Membership for Tech Ranch Austin as well as the event organizer for the Austin YouTube Partner monthly meetups. Prior to his role at MBS, Inc. and his career as a video game developer and journalist, Carey served in the US Army for 5 years, including one tour of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Carey is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Carey also moonlights as the host of The RPG Fanatic Show, an internet television show on YouTube which has accumulated over 3.7 million views.