Image by: Maurits Knook

YouTube is the king of online video services. Most of us couldn’t live without it – it’s there when you need instant music, it’s there for film trailers, and it’s there to cheer you up with videos of cute animals doing bizarre things.

But we’re beginning to think that YouTube is starting to take a downward turn. Recently, there are things that have begun to grate – things that no amusing cat video can cure, and things that we want acknowledged.

Sorry YouTube, but here are the things we all hate about you.

1.       The Adverts

The days where the only adverts on YouTube were static ones are long gone, now we have to put up with ads on the homepage, on the sidebar, on the video and at the beginning of anything affiliated with any kind of company or band. SERIOUSLY? You’re almost better off just watching TV…

2.       People That Think They Can Sing

A YouTube channel doth not a singer make. Several million teenage girls (and guys) would do good to note this fact. You often wonder if they’ve ever watched their videos back after recording, and thought, You know, maybe those people who I brushed off as ‘h8ters’ were actually trying to help me stop embarrassing myself… Then again, probably not.

3.       Irritating Annotations

OK, great, you have a YouTube Channel/another 10 videos on the same subject/a film clip of your cat. I might have checked this out of my own accord, but you putting giant boxes of text periodically over the video I’m trying to view has made sure that hell will freeze over before I ever click on another of your videos.

4.       Teens That Think They’re Worldly

Unfortunately, the YouTube vlogging community seems to be made up of 95% irritating teenagers, and 5% boring adults. Trust me, no one cares that you touched Justin Beiber’s shirt/have perfected your makeup routine at age 13/think Kony is evil. Unless you’ve finished school, you’re not educated enough to have an opinion.

5.       Getting Stuck in a Loop

No one knows quite how it happens, but YouTube can suck you in like a black hole. Oh you came on here to watch a movie trailer? Well, here’s a video about a cat. Oh wait, this is an even funnier video about a talking cat – how could you not watch that? And you have to see this – this cat’s sliding into a box…

6.       Obnoxious Comments

On any film on YouTube that has 1000 views or more, there will, without a doubt, be some fool who has commented on it in some misspelled, misabbreviated version of gangsta/hillbilly English, either saying something about God, or being racist or homophobic. I guarantee you.

7.       “YOU CAN’T NOT LAUGH AT THIS, SOOO FUNNY” videos

If you have to put anything like this in the title to get views on your video, it ain’t that funny. It’s just misleading and annoying. In fact, I might sue you for misrepresentation.

8.       Filming TV videos

I do really, really want to watch a clip of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin make “dad noises”, but I do not want to watch it like this.

9.       Idiotic Responses

For any video that garners half a million views, even if it’s something on a company that outsources web support, there will be several film responses given detailing someone’s dull/small-minded/racist/homophobic/uneducated view on it (and at least one busty girl in a small top whose response has nothing to do with the original video). We know you’re just hankering for views.

10.   Bad Quality Videos of Monotonous People

There are people who are lively and likable enough to be on camera, and there are people who aren’t. Unfortunately, YouTube has opened the gateway for anyone and everyone to pimp themselves out on film – even if all they have is a phone camera and the personality of an uncharismatic snail.

Is there that annoys you more than these points? Let us know in the comments!

James Duval is a tech geek who has an obsession with YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. He can usually be found writing (hopefully) amusing blogs on social media and business practises for ArcIT.