YouTube announced the deletion of the negative review counter for videos hosted on the platform. The company states that the change is focused on preventing harassment and coordinated cancellation actions against opponents, especially those aimed at newer channels, whose high rate of “Dislikes” can affect the performance of the content.
According to the company, the idea is to reduce attacks against creators, in which groups give several dislikes in a coordinated way to target the person and generate public embarrassment.
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).
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) November 10, 2021
This comes after lots of research, testing & consideration → https://t.co/mJWDJSSRoG
As the button will continue to be available, the user will be able to indicate that they did not like the video and this information will be used to improve their experience on the platform. On the other hand, the creator will be able to see the number of dislikes along with audience information, and use the information to plan their content.
The platform claims that hiding the number of dislikes inhibits coordinated attacks, as people cannot see the result of the action. According to the YouTube, the change was put into practice yesterday (10) and will gradually reach all users.
