The YouTube dislike hiding was the decision, made by then-CEO Susan Wojcicki, to change the visibility of the "dislike" counts of all YouTube videos. This update took effect in November 2021, [1] allegedly as a way to decrease trolling or "dislike mobs." This decision was met with nearly universal backlash, with many users, as proponents for visible "dislike" counts, arguing that the numbers are helpful for avoiding videos with misleading or deceptive titles or thumbnails that do not match the content of the video. [1]

History

In early February 2019, YouTube began experimenting with ways to prevent or deter users from misusing the dislike button, after one of its channel's videos, YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind, became the platform's most-disliked video, surpassing Justin Bieber's Baby, which held the title for over seven years. The 2018 edition of YouTube Rewind, which premiered on December 6, 2018, garnered over 10 million dislikes within seven days after its release. [2] [3] No change was made at the time, though YouTube director Tom Leung weighed several possible strategies. In one proposed strategy, the "like" and "dislike" buttons would be hidden upon opening a page, and viewers would "earn" access to the buttons after watching at least 25% of the video. In another proposed strategy, viewers who voted "dislike" on a video would have to select from a checkbox their reason for disliking the video, which as Leung argues, could also bring helpful information to the videos' creators. In another proposed strategy, the dislikes would be hidden or removed altogether.

YouTube had previously experimented with this decision on March 30, 2021, as a soft release for some users, eight months before the change was officially rolled out. [4] Users responded by either blaming the Biden administration and claiming that the Biden administration requested YouTube to hide the dislikes; theorizing that since YouTube Rewind 2018 was closing in on 20 million dislikes, YouTube was hiding the “dislike” count to shield themselves from further criticism of the video; or that they were catering to corporations like Nintendo.[5] YouTube denied the claims, repeating their claim that the hiding of dislikes was to protect the wellbeing of creators and to discourage "targeted campaigns of dislikes."

Hiding of dislikes

Demonstration of the removal of dislikes in November 2021, using YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind. The top image is from a Wayback Machine snapshot of this page dated October 31, 2021, and the bottom image is a Wayback Machine snapshot for November 20, 2021.

On November 10, 2021, YouTube began hiding the numbers of dislikes on all videos. Creators could continue to see the dislike totals in their analytics and YouTube Studio, but dislike totals were no longer shown to the public. On the video page, the number of likes is still displayed, but the number of dislikes is no longer visible.

Reactions

Reactions to the change were overwhelmingly negative. Content creator Chris Burton, who runs the channel Half-Asleep Chris, notes that dislike numbers can be useful for users looking to avoid clickbait, as some videos have misleading titles or thumbnails. "A lot of the time," Burton stated, "you can't trust the title or thumbnail. If you see a tutorial video and it's got almost all dislikes, you know it's not going to help you."[1] Burton did not believe that YouTube's decision to hide dislikes could protect him from stress, though he acknowledged that the decision did have the benefit of "[getting] rid of the bullying aspect" of "dislike mobs."

Jawed Karim, co-founder of YouTube who uploaded the site's oldest YouTube video Me at the zoo in 2005, also criticized the change. Believing it to pave the way for the "decline of YouTube", Karim edited the description of Me at the zoo to express his viewpoint on the matter: "The ability to easily and quickly identify bad content is an essential feature of a user-generated content platform," writes Karim. [6]

Official statements

In January 2022, then-YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki released a public statement defending her decision to hide the dislikes, acknowledging the controversy and backlash that the decision has received. "We want every creator to feel they can express themselves without harassment," Wojcicki shared in the statement. Wojcicki shared the benefits of the decision and its past experimental phases, which she stated did not see "a meaningful difference in viewership" and decreased "dislike attacks." [7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "YouTube removing dislike 'discourages trolls' but 'unhelpful for users'". BBC. November 12, 2021.
  2. ↑ Schoon, Ben (2018-12-13). "[Update: 10 million dislikes] YouTube Rewind 2018 beat 'Baby' as the most disliked video of all time". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  3. ↑ Julia Alexander (February 1, 2019). "YouTube wants 'dislike mobs' to stop weaponizing the dislike button". The Verge.
  4. ↑ "YouTube is conducting experiment on hiding dislike counts on videos". Reuters. April 12, 2021.
  5. ↑ https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/11/youtube-is-hiding-the-dislike-count-good-news-for-switch-onlines-video-team
  6. ↑ James Vincent (November 17, 2021). "YouTube co-founder predicts 'decline' of the platform following removal of dislikes". The Verge.
  7. ↑ Todd Spangler (January 25, 2022). "YouTube CEO Defends Decision to Hide Dislikes on Videos". Variety.
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