In the battle to limit online abuse, many social media platforms are taking steps to reduce this. YouTube is one of these; the company is currently carrying out a test where the number of dislikes is hidden from public view.
So, what does this mean? Will you no longer be able to dislike videos, and are creators going to miss out on getting valuable feedback? This article will answer both of these questions, plus more.
A Brief History of Likes and Dislikes on YouTube
YouTube launched in 2005 but has not always used the likes and dislikes feature. In its early years, users provided feedback with a star system. Depending on their thoughts, they could rank each video anywhere between one and five stars.
But in 2009, the platform questioned whether the star rating system was a valuable way for providing feedback. In a post on the YouTube Blog published in September of that year, YouTube said:
We’re glad there are so many awesome videos on YouTube, but all of this begs the question: if the majority of videos are getting five stars, how useful is this system really? Would a thumbs up/thumbs down be more effective, or does favoriting do the trick of declaring your love for a video?
Lo and behold, a thumbs up and thumbs down system was later introduced.
Since then, users have shown their approval or disapproval for each video by either liking or disliking it. The number of thumbs up and thumbs down have both been visible to the public.
Why Is YouTube Testing the Removal of Likes and Dislikes?
On its official Twitter account, YouTube said that it would test hiding the dislike count “in response to creator feedback around well-being and targeted dislike campaigns”.
The dislike feature on YouTube makes it easy for users to target creators as it takes little effort. All users need to do is log in with their Google account and tap the thumbs down button.
Some users might also feel empowered to dislike videos because this vote is anonymous.
YouTube is not the first social media platform to trial hiding certain feedback features to improve well-being. In March 2021, Instagram accidentally launched a test that hid like counts for more users than was initially intended.
In 2019, Facebook—which owns Instagram–also trialed hiding the number of likes each post received.
Can YouTube Creators Still See Their Number of Dislikes?
While YouTube must do what it can to protect users’ mental health, it’s also important to remember that dislikes aren’t always bad. For many creators, they can serve as vital feedback to help them produce more meaningful content in the future.
It seems like YouTube has acknowledged this. Users will still be able to dislike videos, they just won’t see a number next to the icon. As Google pointed out on the YouTube Community forum, creators can also still see how many dislikes they receive.
If you’re a creator and have been chosen as part of the YouTube experiment, you’ll find your number of dislikes in the Studio section. Nothing new has been added in this respect, so you can carry out the same steps as you used to.
Removing Dislikes Treats a Symptom, Not a Cause
Disliking videos takes little effort, so it’s easy to see why some creators have been targeted. Removing likes from the public view could help to avoid these problems from arising.
YouTube has also seemingly noted that dislikes can also act as a great source of feedback. As such, users can still give creators an idea of how they can improve their videos.
But despite YouTube’s efforts, removing public dislike numbers won’t stop the abuse. If the feature fully rolls out, keyboard warriors will find another way to leave their mark. So, the platform needs to remain vigilant.