Youtube users have been using the “like” and “dislike” buttons to show their preferences and dislikes for videos for many years. Users have a long-standing pattern of disliking videos with which they disagree, similar to the common cancel community. Because of this practice, the Google-owned video-sharing website has questioned whether this method of disliking videos at random has resulted in a deterioration in Creators’ mental health. Youtube is also conducting experiments to hide the number of dislikes on their posts.
Youtube clarified in a tweet that the campaign was launched “in response to creator feedback about well-being.” This is also an effort to put a stop to user-targeted dislike campaigns. They previously revealed that they had started a small experiment. The research was conducted to see if there were any new prototypes that didn’t show a public hate count. They also showed off a potential experiment concept.
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
However, via the YouTube Studio tool, content creators will also be able to see the exact number of likes and dislikes. Viewers may also like or hate a video to provide input to the producers. The act of liking and disliking a video often aids viewers in fine-tuning the YouTube suggestions they see.
Dislike Campaigns with an Intent
Youtube was the focus of a “targeted dislike drive” in 2018. In 2018, the Youtube Rewind video received 19 million dislikes compared to 2.9 million likes. That is why Youtube is experimenting with hiding the dislikes count on videos. In less than a week after its release, this video has amassed the most dislikes. One of the reasons for the dislike campaign on this video was that it failed to acknowledge many native YouTube makers. Instead, mainstream celebrities such as Will Smith, Trevor Noah, and John Oliver were featured in the rewind video, which angered critics.
