YouTube has announced that it would no longer display dislike numbers on all videos on its platform.
YouTube hopes that this modification would encourage “respectful interactions between viewers and creators.” It will also safeguard small creators who are the victim of dislike attacks or harassment.
To reduce targeted dislike attacks & their impact on creators (esp on smaller creators), you’ll no longer see a public dislike *count* on YouTube starting today (the dislike button is staying).
This comes after lots of research, testing & consideration → https://t.co/mJWDJSSRoG
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) November 10, 2021
The dislike button, however, will not be removed from the platform, and users will still be able to dislike any video. According to YouTube, the dislike count would only be seen to creators as private feedback, which will help prevent some public shaming.
We’ve seen that when creators used the option and chose to turn off likes/dislikes on their videos, they can be bullied and harassed for that decision. Ultimately, it’s our responsibility to protect the YouTube community so we’ve decided to make this change across all videos
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) November 10, 2021
Furthermore, smaller creators think they have just recently launched a channel and are being unfairly targeted by this behaviour, which was proven by a platform experiment. According to YouTube, people are more likely to engage in attacking behaviour on small channels.