YouTube recently changed its policy for those who want to leave comments on videos. The new system requires commenters to have Google+ accounts – and Jawed Karim is angry about that.
Most people know that YouTube is owned by Google – the search giant famously paid $1.65-billion for the video startup back in 2006. As such, many would be forgiven for not knowing who Steve Chen or Chad Hurley are, despite the latter’s continued attempts at starting other online services. And even more would be absolved if they had no clue who Jawed Karim is.
Karim is not only the co-founder of the world’s most-used video service, he’s also the star of the very first YouTube video, titled “Me at the zoo”, uploaded in May 2005.
This past weekend he tried posting a comment on his own video – his first on the site in 8 years – and ran into that new proviso of requiring a Google+ account. His reaction? A simple post on his own YouTube channel, err, questioning the decision.
And to further rub salt in Google’s wounds, most of the comments for the video are people exploiting the new commenting system and airing their contempt for YouTube’s decision to make the internet slightly less free and open.
