It is even more irritating with Youtube. If I am logged in to any Google account it pesters me to select my Real name every time I watch a video. And every time I end up opening the video in another browser.
I 100% feel you on this! I have actually just closed out my tabs in frustration and did not watch any videos. The thing that really pissed me off was the wording, they intentionally make it really ambiguous so that you can screw up. Eeverytime i choose an option, i am just hoping that it is not to use my real name, i find that really sleazy. My youtube viewing has also decreased by about 80% because the new home page is too cluttered and the recommendations are just so off, if you make the mistake to watch a 60sec video of something silly, be prepared to get a whole lot of recommendations for that crap. This is actually the main reason why in the last two months my viewing has dropped so much, it doesn't even seem like they take into account my saved lists, favorites or watch later.
Bonus complaint: Lately I have been feeling that google just doesn't care or they have too much going on to pay attention to detail. I have been really disappointed with their social products as well as services since google checkout. I downloaded the google now app a while ago and was shocked at how it killed my battery and never used it again, yesterday I decided to test it out, a few hours later I wanted to use instagram but my power was at 3%, I smiled and just disabled the app. This disregard for winning at both the first & second moment of truth is what is killing google's ability to diversify their revenue from just search.
I've actually kind of fell into the habit of using two browsers. One that I keep logged in to my Google account and one that I never log in with. If I want to do something "Googley" that I want tracked, like watch YouTube videos in my subscriptions or check my G+ page, I use the Google account browser (Firefox). If I'm just browsing my various forums and random links and videos and whatever I don't want associated with my Google persona, I use the non-Google account browser (Opera).
It ends up working pretty well, though I guess it is more hassle than it needs to be.
Twitter is far worse. I didn't use it except for maybe two or three times a year when I want to check something someone has said and (has I have at least 5 times!) tweet someone. When I login briefly I then have several weeks of crappy emails and badgering from twitter. It is incessant. X just retweeted a message from Y! I have hit all the don't-email-me-ever buttons, but every damn time they do it. I just accept it now as don't login ever.
For this reason I have my Google account sequestered into its own browser (Safari). I never log in from my main browser (Firefox). I do the same with Facebook, which I only visit from Chrome.
The best part about that horrible dialog is that I have to lie to it to make it go away. I'm okay with using my real name but I am NOT going to make a G+ profile to be allowed to use youtube.
Especially in the chance it starts publishing anything about my youtube usage.
Google seems to have started on a mission to annoy the fuck out of me the past 6 months or so. For instance through the neverending popups and dialogs that enthusiastically tell me about some feature and require a response from me to ask them to please fuck off.
Not to talk about the amazingly stupid animations on Google+ that makes it impossible to scroll fast on an iPhone 4. I was making an effort to use Google+ more ... and then Google gives me that shit.
Look Googlers, I know that you suffered under the reign of the Cupcake Princess and were unable to release anything cool because dealing with her was more painful than watching an entire episode of Sex and the City. I know that. But that doesn't mean you have to go out of your fucking way to add frivolous, pointless, wankery to your UIs.
If you want to do something productive: fix the Gmail UI.
OK, I'm not usually like this -- perhaps this time is just because I didn't know who the "cupcake princess" is and had to Google it out of curiosity, and trust me, I think Google is the epitome of the power hungry, sinister, duplicitous corporation, that makes the robber barons look like no more than slightly annoyed kindergarten teachers -- but I think you're being sexist.
Anyway, I found this: "Mayer, a long-time Google executive dubbed the “cupcake princess” after she constructed detailed spreadsheets weighing up the benefits of various cupcake recipes". Now, compiling cupcake spreadsheets, is, uhhh, frivolous maybe? But I wouldn't be surprised to learn that male executives at software companies do the same for beer; or bikes; or Star Wars. I don't think they get such nicknames.
Anyway, there's an unpleasant bro scent to your comment. If we care about our freedom and independent agency, the Google corporation must be broken up, and sooner rather than later. But even the largest heap of banal evil in the known universe can be dealt with without unnecessary bigotry.
Veering dangerously close to sexist behavior there—make an extra effort to think about what you're saying when you talk about women in our field. Regardless of what you think of her, it's demeaning to reduce her from a CEO on par with any male in the industry to a "Cupcake Princess"—LOL, they aren't qualified to lead!
Seriously, though, don't be a douchebag, there are more than enough in our industry without this shit leaking onto HN.
I'd like to stop using GMail, but there aren't worthy competitors (free, large, mostly reliable). My ISP (which is a major one) sucks at mail compared to Google.
Not sure what Marissa Mayer has to do with this. But please don't blame an entire company for the decisions of a single person: Vic Gundotra.
There's plenty of engineers at Google who feel incredibly frustrated every time one of these decisions is made and remember the good ol' times when Google used to put the user first.
Product people will think "once every 2 weeks is fine, since we really want to get profile pictures for everyone". Dev guy implements it. Customer complaints. Product people review it, and exponential backoff emailing is implemented.
I dropped Google+ for this exact reason. I refuse to support a platform that I didn't use when the parent company shuts down the platforms I do. My next phone will likely be Firefox os. I've started using duck duck go. Funny how this obvious information gathering and shameless promotion of what they're clearly no good at has ccompletely soured me to their brand.
I wonder if this trend will increase. Moving from Chrome to Firefox and Google to DuckDuckGo for me was first about a bad taste left by a brand. That led me to alternatives that are more user focused and actually listening to users. I think Google kind of lost its way. I doubt if a majority of users though even care or value the issues which cause some of us to jump ship. The identity service of G+ was the first straw for me. I'm sure others are accumulating their own straws. I guess it shows that any company can jump in and fill a niche offered by bigger players. DDG is getting well deserved publicity. It's also nice to see Mozilla in the news again. I'm quite happy making the product switches I have and will put up with any perceived reduction of features for products that are improving and really listening to their users.
This is probably one of my largest complaints about a google product at the moment. It feels like they're trying to trick me in to doing it with that invasive pop-up I get every week.
I don't even use YouTube for uploading or commenting, but I also don't want my real name and a photo of me on that site in any form. There's always the small chance they'll do something stupid like roll an update that makes my "previously viewed videos" available to my "social connections" by default without notifying me.
IIRC YouTube has presented me with 3 completely different iterations of that dialog, all trying to bamboozle me in to G+ing it up.
The latest one was in fact blatantly wrong because the two answer choices began with "Yes, do ..." and "No, do ...", which didn't make sense because the question was posed in the opposite way.
It really used to be so nice until Google got their grubby hands on it. Nowadays I can barely get through a single video without massive stalling issues, or 30 second ads for a 10 second video. It's ridiculous.
And they keep telling me to update my cover photo (not via email though), but the new cover photos are so big that most of the users need to scroll down to see my name. A horrible user experience.
Do you actually use G+? Because when you go to someone's profile it starts scrolled down on the picture so you're at the profile pic/name/basic info. You can then scroll up to see the rest of the cover photo if you want.
Edit: This is on Chrome, so if it doesn't work like that on other browsers it's most likely a bug.
just re-visited my google+ profile to see what the cover photo stuff was all about, and yeah, it's big. the bigger issue is, that scrolling on the profile page feels sluggish and jumpy (on my mac book air 2013 - latest stable chrome browser). google seems to have some serious issue on that one.
Why do you think Google has bad so much trouble delivering a product that is enjoyable to use in Google+? I understand the market saturation from Facebook, but something about Google+ is off. It should be a much better user experience.
It'd also be really nice if, every time I logged in, I wasn't prompted to tell them if there is "someone special in my life." Really? Is relationship status that critical?
I know that those notifications are annoying, especially when they get mixed up with important e-mail and send you scrambling for your phone, however...
How 'bout you just set a profile photo? It doesn't need to be your face, doesn't even need to be photo. Actually, a distinct avatar would probably work better than a photo.
But put something there. It's tiresome to try to follow a conversation without an easy way to distinguish participants.
So fire up GIMP, put your initials over your favourite shade of pink and upload it to Twitter/Google+/GitHub/Gravatar/whatever. Or pick a picture from Flickr with a permissive license.
Social networks suck like that - FB still sends me spammy e-mails about invitations and "people from ... you might know" even though I've turned off all mail notifications.
It's a good indication that you are serving their purpose and not the other way round, though.
Signed up for FB with a fake account to do a client job. No friends or anything. Every couple of days, they send an email with random people I might know. Never heard of any of them. Got sick of it, so I signed in to cancel the notifications I'd missed. They sent me a "welcome back" notification because I'd signed in. Deleted the account.
Facebook doesn't stop sending notifications, and Gmail is blind to the dot ... :-) It's like two beautiful girls talking to each other and not listening to any body who is around trying to interrupt their loud gossip.
check out my social network, pplrep.com, and unlike other networks, it's not egocentric. Email verification not required and we never email users, unless they request their password if they've forgotten it. Also not in bed with the NSA.
I use a picture of a painted, corrugated metal wall that a coder/photoblogger posted (as one of several offerings for mobile phone wallpaper). I've never gotten a notice like that.
I did this on LinkedIn, because they have a rating system for being able to set up a business account (and so they basically require an image). It works on Google+ as well.
...and youtube is annoying the fuck out of me, asking me to change account to real name. If you don't they try to trick you with a follow-up question. My username is my real name. Amazing that the tech powerhouse can't write a simple script that sees my username matches my real name. Google, cut the BS and spend your time making search better. Not my fault youtube comments are out of control and add NO value to your platform.
We see a lot of these posts on HN complaining about companies particularly Google asking you to do some things (register, upload photos, add your name, etc.)
Have we actually asked ourselves what value are we giving to these companies in return to using their service?
Google used to be awesome. Ever since they went public, they've slowly but surely started sliding down the path to sucking.
They're probably too strong in search to be dislodged right now, and will probably remain so in the short-to-medium term, but some of their non-core services are ripe for disruption by startups.
I wanted to review something using Google and they prompted me to make a Google + account with my real name etc. I think reviews can be more useful when there is not the pressure to be overly optimistic about everything, calling everything "great" for the sake of seeming like a cheery kind of person
[+] [-] nmridul|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nashequilibrium|12 years ago|reply
Bonus complaint: Lately I have been feeling that google just doesn't care or they have too much going on to pay attention to detail. I have been really disappointed with their social products as well as services since google checkout. I downloaded the google now app a while ago and was shocked at how it killed my battery and never used it again, yesterday I decided to test it out, a few hours later I wanted to use instagram but my power was at 3%, I smiled and just disabled the app. This disregard for winning at both the first & second moment of truth is what is killing google's ability to diversify their revenue from just search.
[+] [-] coldpie|12 years ago|reply
It ends up working pretty well, though I guess it is more hassle than it needs to be.
[+] [-] lostlogin|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] marssaxman|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Dylan16807|12 years ago|reply
Especially in the chance it starts publishing anything about my youtube usage.
[+] [-] warp|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bborud|12 years ago|reply
Not to talk about the amazingly stupid animations on Google+ that makes it impossible to scroll fast on an iPhone 4. I was making an effort to use Google+ more ... and then Google gives me that shit.
Look Googlers, I know that you suffered under the reign of the Cupcake Princess and were unable to release anything cool because dealing with her was more painful than watching an entire episode of Sex and the City. I know that. But that doesn't mean you have to go out of your fucking way to add frivolous, pointless, wankery to your UIs.
If you want to do something productive: fix the Gmail UI.
[+] [-] pron|12 years ago|reply
Anyway, I found this: "Mayer, a long-time Google executive dubbed the “cupcake princess” after she constructed detailed spreadsheets weighing up the benefits of various cupcake recipes". Now, compiling cupcake spreadsheets, is, uhhh, frivolous maybe? But I wouldn't be surprised to learn that male executives at software companies do the same for beer; or bikes; or Star Wars. I don't think they get such nicknames.
Anyway, there's an unpleasant bro scent to your comment. If we care about our freedom and independent agency, the Google corporation must be broken up, and sooner rather than later. But even the largest heap of banal evil in the known universe can be dealt with without unnecessary bigotry.
[+] [-] duaneb|12 years ago|reply
Veering dangerously close to sexist behavior there—make an extra effort to think about what you're saying when you talk about women in our field. Regardless of what you think of her, it's demeaning to reduce her from a CEO on par with any male in the industry to a "Cupcake Princess"—LOL, they aren't qualified to lead!
Seriously, though, don't be a douchebag, there are more than enough in our industry without this shit leaking onto HN.
[+] [-] bittired|12 years ago|reply
They just tried recently.
I'd like to stop using GMail, but there aren't worthy competitors (free, large, mostly reliable). My ISP (which is a major one) sucks at mail compared to Google.
[+] [-] cmpxchg8|12 years ago|reply
There's plenty of engineers at Google who feel incredibly frustrated every time one of these decisions is made and remember the good ol' times when Google used to put the user first.
[+] [-] TeeWEE|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gibbitz|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] teaneedz|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ucho|12 years ago|reply
- Yes
- Remind me in a week
How about: don't bug me ever?
[+] [-] stopcodon|12 years ago|reply
I don't even use YouTube for uploading or commenting, but I also don't want my real name and a photo of me on that site in any form. There's always the small chance they'll do something stupid like roll an update that makes my "previously viewed videos" available to my "social connections" by default without notifying me.
[+] [-] frou_dh|12 years ago|reply
The latest one was in fact blatantly wrong because the two answer choices began with "Yes, do ..." and "No, do ...", which didn't make sense because the question was posed in the opposite way.
[+] [-] aryastark|12 years ago|reply
It really used to be so nice until Google got their grubby hands on it. Nowadays I can barely get through a single video without massive stalling issues, or 30 second ads for a 10 second video. It's ridiculous.
[+] [-] workbench|12 years ago|reply
Actually laughed at that one.
[+] [-] ensmotko|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] RobAtticus|12 years ago|reply
Edit: This is on Chrome, so if it doesn't work like that on other browsers it's most likely a bug.
[+] [-] franze|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Subuatai|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] megfitz|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rwg|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spindritf|12 years ago|reply
How 'bout you just set a profile photo? It doesn't need to be your face, doesn't even need to be photo. Actually, a distinct avatar would probably work better than a photo.
But put something there. It's tiresome to try to follow a conversation without an easy way to distinguish participants.
So fire up GIMP, put your initials over your favourite shade of pink and upload it to Twitter/Google+/GitHub/Gravatar/whatever. Or pick a picture from Flickr with a permissive license.
Don't punish others with a generic icon.
/PSA
[+] [-] pieterhg|12 years ago|reply
Completely unnecessary ad hominem here.
[+] [-] jacques_chester|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hannibal5|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lazyjones|12 years ago|reply
It's a good indication that you are serving their purpose and not the other way round, though.
[+] [-] prawn|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m_ram|12 years ago|reply
G+: https://www.google.com/settings/plus
Twitter: https://twitter.com/settings/notifications
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=notifications§ion=thro...
Update: It looks like Facebook switched from a long list of checkboxes to an all-or-nothing system.
[+] [-] monsterix|12 years ago|reply
Facebook doesn't stop sending notifications, and Gmail is blind to the dot ... :-) It's like two beautiful girls talking to each other and not listening to any body who is around trying to interrupt their loud gossip.
[+] [-] omerta|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] znowi|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sp332|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] puzzlingcaptcha|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Semiapies|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] antninja|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adventured|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] andrewhillman|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emini_guy|12 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] vuldin|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zapov|12 years ago|reply
I have Thunderbird running on another computer and Claws tried to download my mail while on airport.
So thanks Google, I guess I will have to stop using those accounts, because I don't like sharing my phone number ;(
[+] [-] dannyr|12 years ago|reply
Have we actually asked ourselves what value are we giving to these companies in return to using their service?
[+] [-] thomaslangston|12 years ago|reply
Why wouldn't you upload your company's logo as the profile picture?
[+] [-] csense|12 years ago|reply
They're probably too strong in search to be dislodged right now, and will probably remain so in the short-to-medium term, but some of their non-core services are ripe for disruption by startups.
[+] [-] drunkenmasta|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kzrdude|12 years ago|reply