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Comment by 300bps | Hacker News Reader

I opted out by deleting my Google+ profile last night. I honestly never wanted a Google+ profile and me submitting a YouTube video for a private audience (demonstrating a new feature in a web site I developed for a side client) that got broadcast to all my friends on Google+ was the last straw.

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I hope you're prepared for a zillion A/B tested strategies to trick you to resigning up with G+ through YouTube. Say what you want about Facebook (and I don't have a FB account for many reasons) but at least they aren't constantly in my face trying to trick me to sign up.

Protip for the many Google employees that browse HN for fun or just to flag positive stories about Apple off the front page: the first 100 times I said "no" were not a mistake, I really don't want to sign up for G+. Get that shit out of my face forever pls.

If it was only YouTube... I recently got the prompt on GMail after a login, it was a mini-tab inside GMail for quite some time, it's a recurring question or even requirement on any new Google service, but the closest I've come to converting my old-style Google account into one with a G+ profile is certainly when adding your account on Android. One touch-sensitive button to start the process directly next to the one for skipping it..

Quite the obstacle course.

I doubt there's many Googlers who downvote positive Apple stories, I don't know where people get this assumption that Googlers hate Apple. I don't even downvote negative Google stories. The only time I ever downvote anything is when the person in question is being an obvious douchebag or abusive.

Do Google's managers browse HN? The only manager-type I've seen is Matt Cutts from Web Search.

Serious question: can you still use Google Hangouts -- the video chat -- after deleting G+? It's the one G+-related service I use.

Yes, it looks like it. I just went into it and it said, "Hangouts get better with a Google+ profile" and these benefits:

http://i.imgur.com/4guE3FI.png

But I was able to click "Not Now" and proceed.

Didn't realize you could do that without destroying your profile elsewhere in their ecosystem. So something like GMail and YouTube still work, but you have go Google+ profile?

Thank you, I just deleted my plus profile too. I didn't know I can still have gmail and youtube without having gplus.

So brave.

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