I like the idea of turning off comments, and then linking to a Reddit post in the video description. An alternative to that, should you not be balking at required G+ integration, is visiting the comment management[1] page. It should be possible to build a vetted user base with the tools there.
You'd have to do some heavy upfront work approving comments and adding approved users, but I believe it would ultimately pay off more than piggybacking on another free service to de-spam comments. Instead, it would be sort of a throwback to the old BBS days when sysops of some boards would call you to verify your account before adding you as a user.
And clearly Google is going to address the nonsense comments somehow, since so many high-profile users are complaining now and threatening to leave. I'm genuinely curious how this will all play out; it may be a good test as to whether management and devs at Google still have "chops".
You'd have to do some heavy upfront work approving comments and adding approved users, but I believe it would ultimately pay off more than piggybacking on another free service to de-spam comments. Instead, it would be sort of a throwback to the old BBS days when sysops of some boards would call you to verify your account before adding you as a user.
And clearly Google is going to address the nonsense comments somehow, since so many high-profile users are complaining now and threatening to leave. I'm genuinely curious how this will all play out; it may be a good test as to whether management and devs at Google still have "chops".
[1] https://www.youtube.com/comment_management