Stop trying to prevent Google Plus from happening.
It’s not going to stop happening.
People like anonymity and are used to it on YouTube, but the thing people tend to forget is that YouTube is a Google service so you must have a Google account to use it. Anonymous comments are the lifeblood of /r/youtubecomments and much of YouTube’s value came not from the content but from the community.
However…
You can’t comment on Reddit without an account, nor can you do anything anywhere really, so why the hate?
What was Google thinking?!
Here’s the thing: Google+ isn’t about stealing social from Facebook, it’s about preventing Facebook from stealing search from Google.
Think about it like this: when you search using Google, you want to find your information and leave the results page as quickly as possible and that’s a terrible model for maintaining interaction. Conversely, when you search using Facebook, you do so with the intention of browsing, lurking, reading, etc. and generally staying on Facebook.
The “generally staying on Facebook” part is crucial, because Facebook search is so good it keeps you using Facebook but Google search is so good it makes you leave right away. See where this is going? Google unified all its services to stop you leaving and it’s working.
Remember when iOS started making it super-easy to use services it approved of without having to actually log in on the device? Google’s service unification was a pre-requisite for this (the ability to login to Android apps without typing any credentials) and we asked for it.
What about SEO?
You can say “SEO is dead” all you want, but smart money knows G+ is your friend and the fact that no-one uses it as a social network doesn’t really matter. You can also say “Stop trying to make G+ happen, it’s not going to happen” as much as you like, but it is happening.
Google something. Anything. See that stuff on the right? That will have something to do with G+. Now search for a company. See their info on the right? Maps, contact details, etc. That’s G+ and for better or worse, it’s there and ultimately I think it’s a good thing.
What does this have to do with YouTube?
As for pestering you to link your Google account to your YouTube account, this means:
- You will be more accountable for what you say and do on YouTube
- There will be fewer low-value comments
- The age of keyword-focused SEO is definitely over
- All this is a good thing!
What can we do?
Nothing.
Actually, you could try just not using the service you profess to be so unhappy with, or even use a pseudonym, but really you should just bite-the-bullet and deal with it. You’re getting a service for free and the least you can do is be accountable for what you say and do there — “you are the product” aside.
Remember, we asked for this.