Have you heard of something called the internet? Have you felt you needed yet another place on it where you can scream at people that you disagree with? Well, YouTube is back with a product for you!
If you’ve ever used a music streaming app like Apple Music, Spotify, or YouTube Music, you’ve likely never thought, “you know what this needs? The ability to yell at other people about the song I’m listening to.” Well, you thought wrong. As reported by 9to5Google, YouTube Music is rolling out an update to its Now Playing view and, with it, bringing along one of the most toxic aspects of the internet: a comments section.
According to the report, when you are listening to a song, you will now have the ability to swipe up and be thrown into the comments section where you can engage in discussion about the song. In addition to reading comments, you can also write your own. Worst of all, you can respond to someone else’s comment, releasing onto YouTube Music the same sesspool of social discourse that many of us try to avoid on the main YouTube app.
Comments, at least for now, will be limited to songs so if you want to rail against your favorite artist’s new album that you hate, you’ll have to wait for YouTube to roll out that feature. Apparently, comments have already existed for playlists, but I’m sure that the feature will pick up steam when people have easier access to it right from the Now Playing screen.
I am, with all of the power of my being, completely against this idea. We have gotten used to the comments section existing on articles, on YouTube videos, and all over social media. However, it hasn’t yet crossed the line and tried to invade our entertainment apps. I don’t want a comment section for the app I use to listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks. Leave that for the social media app that I go to in order to talk about it. Leave that experience to be personal.
Of course, YouTube Music is going to charge forward with this anyway, so that’s just one more reason to stick with Apple Music and Spotify.
