YouTube is removing public dislike counts from all videos, but the dislike button will still be available for users to personalize their recommendations.
This permanent change comes after an earlier this year experiment in which YouTube removed dislikes to see if it would help reduce “dislike attacks.”
“As part of this experiment, viewers could still see and use the dislike button. But because the count was not visible to them, we found that they were less likely to target a video’s dislike button to drive up the count. In short, our experiment data showed a reduction in dislike attacking behavior.”
When users collectively dislike a video, it is considered harassment against the creators, according to YouTube. The removal of public dislike counts is intended to reduce the aforementioned “harassment.”
The dislike button will remain on videos in the future, but the number of clicks it receives will be kept private.
A button is now a tool that viewers can use to tailor the recommendations they receive on YouTube.
Channels can see how many dislikes their videos receive in YouTube Studio, along with other metrics, if they choose.
YouTube understands that the decision to remove dislike counts will not be popular with everyone:
“We heard during the experiment that some of you have used the public dislike count to help decide whether or not to watch a video. We know that you might not agree with this decision, but we believe that this is the right thing to do for the platform.”
According to YouTube’s findings, dislike counts have no measurable impact on a user’s decision to watch a video.
See the explainer video below for more information on YouTube’s reasoning for removing public dislikes:
<iframe width="728" height="428" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kxOuG8jMIgI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>If you found dislike counts useful when deciding whether to watch a video, you can still read the comments section.
If the channel hasn’t disabled user comments, you can also learn whether people generally agree with the video’s content.
YouTube has stated that it intends to make more changes like this in the future:
“We want to create an inclusive and respectful environment where creators have the opportunity to succeed and feel safe to express themselves. This is just one of many steps we are taking to continue to protect creators from harassment. Our work is not done, and we’ll continue to invest here.”
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