YouTube has a handful of reasons why it got rid of the dislike count
Creator Liaison Matt Koval posted a video along with a blog post explaining why the company opted to get rid of the dislike count on all YouTube videos. There are a few valid reasons why YouTube is doing this. One reason is because of what Koval calls “coordinated dislike attacks.” Basically, if there’s a creator that a group of people don’t like, that group will converge on that creator’s videos and hit the dislike button. This is an attempt to drive up the dislike count and drive down the video’s ratings. Koval says that disabling the dislike count has actually led to a reduction in attacks.
Koval says that high dislike counts could make creators feel embarrassed
Another reason is so that creators won’t have to feel embarrassed by having the dislike count public. This reason could go either way among creators. If a creator makes content that’s meant to confound people or provoke bad feelings, then their video should be disliked; thus, whether they’re embarrassed or not is irrelevant. On the other hand, people are often hard on creators who aren’t as good at a trade as others. A lot of kids post content that’s not professional quality, and this prompts a lot of people to hit the dislike button, giving the video a bad reputation.
Creators can still see the dislike count on the back-end
The dislike count is hidden from people watching the YouTube videos, but the creators will still be able to see their dislikes in the Creator Studio. YouTube doesn’t want to blind people to the negative feedback, so users can still see how their videos are doing on the back-end.
In Other YouTube News: YouTube is focusing on podcasts
YouTube is known for video content, but companies typically upload their podcasts to the platform. Not too long ago, the company announced that it’s going to be putting a lot of effort into podcasts. The details on that are still a bit fuzzy at the moment, but the company appointed Kai Chuk to lead this ambition. If the company is planning on making its own podcasting platform, it might do as other companies do; contact public figures and celebrities to create on the platform to raise excitement. Right now, only time will tell what the company is planning on doing.
