News
YouTube Testing Elimination of Dislike Counts
Perhaps my perspective would differ if I were a content creator on YouTube, but I actually enjoy seeing the number of dislikes on a video. The like/dislike ratio serves as a quick indicator of public opinion without delving into the sometimes tumultuous comments section. However, it appears that some creators are uncomfortable with the visibility of negative feedback and thus YouTube is contemplating removing dislike counts altogether.
A few days back, YouTube shared an announcement on their official Twitter handle stating that they are testing the removal of dislike numbers from videos. This test is not yet rolled out across the entire platform.
“In light of concerns raised by creators regarding well-being and coordinated dislike campaigns, we are experimenting with alternative designs that do not display the dislike count publicly,” read the announcement. “Users involved in this limited trial may encounter these new designs in the upcoming weeks.”
The illustration provided in their tweet depicted a typical YouTube interface with like and dislike buttons, where only the like button had a visible number below it while the dislike button simply showed “dislike.” This adjustment does not mean that creators won’t receive negative feedback; they can still view the dislikes through the backend of their videos in YouTube Studio. The primary aim of YouTube is to diminish any potential adverse impacts stemming from publicly showing the dislike count.
In reaction to YouTube’s declaration, numerous users on Twitter have expressed fears that concealing dislike figures could inadvertently endorse subpar content.
I believe this is merely an excuse for creators to evade critical feedback on their videos. How can one distinguish between a targeted dislike campaign and genuine viewer discontent? It’s akin to a business deleting unfavorable reviews to sway public opinion.
— Vanessa (Gothix) (@gothixTV) March 30, 2021
Hardly anyone desires this change, except for those creators whose content is sufficiently subpar that they feel the need to mask the magnitude of dislikes they receive on their videos.
By doing this, you are essentially endorsing low-quality content.
— Cynical Reviews (@Cynical_CJ) March 30, 2021
It remains uncertain how long YouTube will conduct this experiment or whether the change will be implemented permanently.
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