What do you think of the new Youtube channel design?

Youtube recently rolled out a new look for the channel homepages and I was wondering what other people thought of the changes.

I'm still using the old layout which is clean, simple, and easy to navigate. I'm sure Youtube will force the change on all of us at some point, some of us may only make the switch kicking and screaming. Others I've talked with really like the new look.

What do you think?

One word: CRAPPY.
I like better the old one. It's more simple and practical, imho.

The END OF YOUTUBE!!! - The NEW LAYOUT will KILL it
Basically, Youtube is gone. It's all Google now. Google ads everywhere. It's hosted on Google servers. The Youtube we have known for years will become more and more commercial from here on out. The focus has shifted from the users, content creators and building relationships between them, to a impersonal, Google driven advertising system that uses everyone's activity for 'revenue'.

I was 'upgraded' (forced) by Youtube into the channel layout and I hate it. It went from a place of your own where you can customize the look, where you could interact with your subscribers to a site where Youtube's interests are the center focus and they are just using you for content.

If you hate the new layout (like me), let them know! Send a message to Youtube explaining your anger as I have before the changes are permanent.

The question is: what other video uploading / sharing platform is there that could replace YT? Vimeo?

Here's some of my observations:

• No more friends list - all of your friends are gone. Youtube doesn't want you to be friends with other Youtube users. Supposedly, they merged your friends into your subscriptions. Nice going idiots.
• The ability to remove a subscriber is gone. Now, anyone can subscribe to your channel, even if you despise them.
• Default 'featured' page and the listings for videos and playlists look like they were designed by Fisher Price for children.
• Subscribers list module is gone - everyone was reduced to a single number at the top. No more browsing other people's subscriber list to find other channels with similar content. Just another way Youtube is destroying the interaction among it's users.
• Previous channel comments are gone. New comments look terrible.
• No more custom colors or layout.
• Where's the ability to post a bulletin to your subscribers?
• The page 'styles' suck and the layouts for each are terrible. Nothing is customizable. Way too generic and plain.
• Why are the video thumbnails so HUGE? Why do they take up so much space on screen? It looks childish and lame!
• The sidebar with the channel information is almost invisible. It's like they are trying 'un-personalize' the channels to the point where each persons identity and character is toned down and lost.
• The 'feed' option is useless.
• Every page with the new layout looks the same - they all lack the character the old layout had which better reflected the individuals uniqueness.
• Navigating through the page takes 5 times as many button clicks and mouse scrolls to find what your looking for. Everything is buried in sub menus. It's more trouble then it's worth.

I have been sending Youtube feedback almost daily, pointing out everything I find wrong with the new page layout. I haven't heard anything back yet and I don't think I will. Sending them feedback is an exercise in futility.

I predict a major backlash if and when they force this new format on everyone. Boycotts and a mass exodus of people (by the millions), leaving and closing their accounts is almost certain. Ever since Google purchased Youtube, it has gotten worse and worse. If I had the money and connections, I would start a new website called 'MyTube' (sounds kinda inappropriate), 'YourTV' - or some other catchy name, just to draw everyone away from the Google run Youtube.

There is a theory floating around that much of these changes (like many of YouTube's changes in the past) are YouTube's way of keeping people watching videos, rather than commenting, reading each others comments, and looking at each others channels. The more YouTube can keep people glued to the videos, the more people will be exposed to ads. And the more exposure to ads, the more revenue.

Maybe they should rename the site to GoogTube. And they should FIRE the person who decided to make the changes.

I just found another problem that annoys me - when looking at the 'featured' list of videos on someone's channel: it lists them 10 at a time by default. So, if your looking for an older video, you have to keep clicking the 'Load 10 more videos' button, scrolling down the list until you find it.

Then, after you click on the video and watch it, you click the back button in your browser and your back at the top, listing only the first 10 videos again! Crazy! Most people will not bother to go through page after page to get back to the place they were in the list. IMHO, this problem alone is going to cause a drop in potential viewership of older videos - especially with channels that have hundreds of videos available to view.

Of course the 'Videos' page is the same way unless the channel owner configures it to list all of the videos at once (usually in a 3 column format), which is better, but still not as good as the old layout where one click at the top toggled between the uploaded videos format (single column or multiple column and row format).

With the new layout, you spend to much time clicking and scrolling while wasting time and energy searching for what your looking for. Some new users (or the ones with ADHD syndrome) may not bother to click the 'Videos' button to view and sort your videos because it's 'too much trouble'. 

Getting rid of the friends feature alone was enough to anger most long time Youtube users, but adding insult to injury with the poor layout and functionality of the new design is going to hurt Youtube's viewership (and future Google ad exposure and profits) and destroy customer loyalty in the long run unless they address these glaring and obvious issues. 

One more thing - the embedded video 'The End of Youtube' has been removed. Other people are now mirroring the video in an effort to thwart Youtube's attempt at censorship.

Here's the same video from another channel:
1st January 2012 BE THERE..BE ABSENT Boycott of NEWTUBE & Every Friday!! thereafter.
According to the video, they are planning a Youtube boycott for 24hours, starting midnight on January 1st, and every Friday after that by setting all of your videos to 'private' for that period. This would shield your videos from the public and Youtube's search engine, depriving them of viewership and potential ad revenue. Depriving a company of revenue is definitely a good way of getting their attention. Negative press is another good way, although I think you might run into legal issues by starting www.youtubesucks.com (looks like someone beat me too it!).

That's not a bad idea. When Youtube makes the changes permanent, maybe I will change all of my videos to 'private' with links to them available only from this website. I know the majority of us in the vinyl community do not post videos for profit, but for others to enjoy. Of course, if you post videos of records playing on your turntable like I do, you're SOL anyway since Youtube's audio copyright fingerprinting system will tag your video with the copyright ownership, making your video ineligible for 'revenue sharing'. The funny thing is, Google sent me a message months ago inviting me to 'revenue sharing' on my BSD2000 channel, even though I don't have a single video that is eligible. Go figure.

I guess I'm done ranting for now.

What do you guys think about all of this? Feel free to add your thoughts and opinions below.