- YouTube announced they will be removing the dislike number under videos
- The change sparks heated debate online
- One of the platform’s biggest creators PewDiePie says “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”
Recently YouTube announced a controversial change that it will no longer be displaying the number of dislikes on videos across its platform. One of the biggest youtubers, PewDiePie, was not happy.
YouTube’s Latest Fidlding with Dislike Gets Lashback
YouTube has been experimenting with having the dislikes on videos for some time now, but recently they have decided to officially remove the dislike count on videos across the site.
The reason for the change, that the Google-owned company puts forward, is to combat “dislike attacks” and harassment campaigns on its platform. “Hate” attacks have been a major issue for platforms like Twitch before, so YouTube is reasoning that if dislike numbers are hidden then people would be less likely to dislike a video.
The dislike button itself will not be removed but the number of dislikes will not be visible by viewers. Creators, on the other hand, will still be able to see their likes and dislikes in their analytics tab. Dislikes will still affect the recommendation algorithm.
PewDiePie’s Reaction
With any major change to YouTube, there is bound to be discussion over the matter. Recently the platform’s most-subscribed independent creator Felix Kjellberg, a.k.a. PewDiePie, posted a video on his channel addressing the change.
The creator argued both the good and bad sides of the idea. Playing devil’s advocate, he said that he always finds it bizarre and somewhat irritating when he watches a wholesome video and sees the many likes and few dislikes it has. His mind fixates on the small number of dislikes, and he says he does not understand why a person would dislike a “good” video.
“It always kind of bothered me on videos when there’s like five “dislikes” on someone doing this charity event… this unarguably positive thing, right, and there’s still a couple dislikes on that video, and you’re like “why?”.
He compared the removal of the dislike count to platforms like Instagram and Twitter, which don’t have a dislike feature at all but noted that, on these sites, one can just scroll away from content they don’t like.
PewDiePie then addressed why this change might be a negative one. For one he stated that a like to dislike ratio is a good way to figure out if a video is good and worth watching. “If you’re looking up a tutorial video and it has 20% or more dislikes, I’m not gonna watch that video. I know it’s a bad tutorial.”
Regarding YouTube’s claims that creators can be victims of “dislike attacks”, he said he has never seen such things on YouTube. He also reminded viewers that the option for creators to remove the like/dislike bar on their video already exists. “They’re fixing a problem that already didn’t need to be fixed.”
Other big youtubers also don’t seem to like the idea. One of “Anitube’s” biggest creators, Gigguk, replied in a sarcastic way to YouTube’s announcement.
PewDiePie finished by saying that he still doesn't know what the outcome of the change would be. “It remains to be seen, but it’s kind of like, well, if it ain’t broke, why fix it, right?”
It also has to be said that if people cannot see their dislikes on a video, then could they instead point their dissatisfaction towards other things, like comments? Is removing comments to combat “hate” the next step for YouTube.
