YouTube is currently testing the removal of the dislike button from its platform. The announcement aims to help creators upload videos without the anxiety of “dislike mobs” rating their content negatively: moreover, these trolls try to viciously increase the ratio of dislikes to likes – which causes YouTube to not recommend the creators videos and in turn affects their channel’s success.
YouTube revealed that the updated feature is being rolled out to a limited number of users. They also shared a mock-up of the new dislike button – which removes the quantity of dislikes – on Twitter:
In response to creator feedback around well-being and targeted dislike campaigns, we're testing a few new designs that don't show the public dislike count. If you're part of this small experiment, you might spot one of these designs in the coming weeks (example below!). pic.twitter.com/aemrIcnrbx
— YouTube (@YouTube) March 30, 2021
The feature was initially introduced in 2019 on YouTube’s Creator Insider Studio channel:
However – many content creators on the platform have discouraged the new update since the dislike button helps YouTube’s algorithm detect and prevent video scams and inappropriate content from being viewable to the public. The feature is also a good general indicator of negative content: if the video has been widely disliked by the YouTube community – it will help other users decide if they want to watch the video.
the problem with websites that don't have dislike buttons is it's harder for people to get an idea of what's good and what's bad. like if twitter had a dislike button, you guys could see how much everybody hates this
— Drew Gooden (@drewisgooden) March 30, 2021
This would be like Amazon hiding negative reviews.. Bezos explained why they didn’t do that and I think it applies here too.
If people choose to spend their time on content, likes/dislikes can help them make informed decisions on which pieces are most worth their time.
— MYSTIC7 (@MYSTIC7) March 30, 2021
YouTube is currently welcoming feedback from both creators and viewers during this beta launch phase. Although video dislikes may not be visible to the public, creators can still access the like and dislike count on their YouTube Studio page to understand the success rate of their content.