YouTube experimenting with removing dislikes, shooting themselves in the foot in the process

In one of the most puzzling moves ever, YouTube is experimenting with disabling the dislike button on the platform. Apart from being the worst idea ever, YouTube has stated that this move is supposed to discourage ‘dislike mobs’ from downvoting videos. It’s the most asinine reason given, but hey, it’s their won platform right? YouTube has stated that the dislike button could be disabled for the public but the channel owner will still be able to view the dislikes on their own YouTube Studio page. So, if this is about curbing bullying, allowing the user to still see the dislikes is rather hypocritical. 

 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

Various publications have praised the move, stating that this would help creators get a more balanced like to dislike ratio. But, again who asked for this? In the official tweet, almost all the replies are skewing the company for this censorious move. Then again, this has been the trend for the past few years. Cancel culture is very real and it’s coming to YouTube as well. In fact, YouTube is going one step further and is looking at requiring users to go through various steps to just add a simple dislike. Our question still is, who asked for this? Likes and Dislikes on a video are extremely important, and it’s not just a popularity thing. It helps creators with feedback and what their audiences actually want to watch. 

Nobody actually wants this, except those creators whose content is so bad that they need to hide the amount of dislikes they get on their videos. You're actively promoting bad content by doing this.

— Cynical Reviews (@Cynical_CJ) March 30, 2021

If this does take place in the future, it could be a huge mistake for YouTube. The platform is already fighting a battle against creators and this move will only serve to alienate its older creators and people who don’t see a dislike as an end to their small careers. Trying to virtue-signal is a YouTube staple but this is just asinine and not a smart move at all. The fact that we're forced to use YouTube music over Google Play Music is indicative of the company's policies. 

 

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