YouTube Comment Notifications Only Through Google+? What?!?

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Yesterday, I reported that the new Google+ linked comment system went live on YouTube. I thought it was a harmless feature that most people would ignore. YouTube also said they were going to make changes to the moderation system that would make it easier for content producers to keep their pages free of spam and trolls. They added word filters and channel bans - nice.

Then I logged on and found this:

Wait. What?

So comments coming IN to my YouTube account won't show up in my YouTube INBOX? This was never a perfect system, half the comments never hit the inbox in the first place but now 'most' are going somewhere else. And why 'most,' instead of all?

Have I got this right? To moderate comments I need to log in to Google+ to see the comment notifications then click through to YouTube to approve or decline? For each comment? Where's the logic?

Since my personal YouTube and Google+ are already linked, I didn't realize the full ramifications until I logged into another YouTube channel I moderate - linking is no longer an option - it's required.

And now I see people saying that a Google+ login is required just to leave a comment on a video.

Again I say, what is Google thinking?

Perhaps this?

oh lovely. i've been forced to sign up for google plus just to see my youtube comments. can't wait till youtube gets renamed 'googletube'

- Bronte (@brontebird) November 7, 2013

I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm also fond of this comment:

'Hey, you got your Google Plus on my Youtube comments!' 'No, you got your Youtube comments on my Google Plus!' What.

- LegendaryChozo (@ChozoRama) November 7, 2013

A large number of Tweeters see the move as a form of extortion - use Google+ or you'll never see your YouTube comments again! It's bad enough when you're one person with one YouTube account, but for people and businesses with multiple accounts and multiple moderators, it's a nightmare

I'm hoping that a week from now, it will all be over. YouTube will realize allowing people who don't actually use the site to make decisions was a bad idea and they'll defer to the die-hard YouTubers who have been keeping the site alive with their content and comments.

To quote my favorite song from Lil' Abner, please put 'em back the way they was!