YouTube removed the public dislike count for all its videos in November 2021. YouTube Studio still allows creators to see the dislikes, but viewers can only see how many views a video has received.
This change was controversial. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki addressed the issue a few months later in a letter discussing the company’s priorities through 2022.
Why did YouTube hide dislikes?
YouTube doesn’t allow you to see dislikes, regardless of what device you use. Although the count is still being tracked in the backend and liking a video will help you with your recommendations, you won’t be able to see how many people have disliked it.
YouTube claimed that there had been an increase in dislikes targeting creators.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki posted a letter to the YouTube blog on January 25, 2022. It addressed the company’s plans in 2022.
She acknowledged in the document that it was controversial to remove dislikes. Wojcicki stated that it was impossible to judge a video’s dislikes accurately, so YouTube did not show them on the homepage, search results or Up Next screens.
She reiterated that the company does not tolerate dislikes.
Wojcicki continues to say that YouTube did not see any significant diffractions while it was experimenting with the change.
Although that might be true, it doesn’t take into account viewer experience. The video may be viewed, but does the viewer feel that the content is worth their time? They viewed it for longer than normal if they could see the likes. Was it possible to appreciate the reactions of others? Public dislike counts served many purposes.
YouTube seems to have no intention of reverseing this trend.
Are YouTube NFTs Possible?
To get an idea of the future direction of the streaming platform, it’s worth reading Wojcickis entire letter. In what will be another controversial decision, Wojcicki mentions the possibility of NFTs.
