Google is increasingly using its social network Google+ as the glue that binds its other Google services together. Wil Wheaton, the writer and actor probably best known for his role as Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation, recently wrote, “I like Google Plus. Some of the smartest people I’ve ever read are on Google Plus, and the Hangout is amazing. But Google is doing everything it can to force Google Plus on everyone, and it’s pissing me off.”

Wheaton rants on, “Yesterday, I tried to like a video on YouTube. I wasn’t signed in to my Google Plus account, and this is what I saw: Where the thumbs up and thumbs down used to be, there is now a big G+ Like button. When you go anywhere near it, you get a little popup that tells you to ‘upgrade to Google plus’ for some reason that I don’t remember, because the instant I saw it, I made a rageface.”

He continued, “Oh, go f–k yourself, Google. This is just as bad as companies forcing me to “like” something on Facebook before I can view whatever it is they want me to ‘like.’ The worst part of this? For a producer like me, I’m going to lose a crapton of potential up-votes for Tabletop, because the core of my audience is tech-savvy and may not want to ‘upgrade’ to yet another f–king social network they don’t want or need.”

Say hello to the new look of Google Plus (screenshots)

To all of this, I can only say, “Deal with it.

Star Trek’s Wil Wheaton thinks Google+ is becoming an annoying mistake. More >