Google-owned, YouTube is now officially going to stop showing dislike count on all the videos across its platform. The corporation asserts that the latest development will benefit those small creators that are being targeted by dislike attacks or harassment. With this turn, YouTube wants to support “respectful interactions between viewers and creators.”
YouTube is Now Placing Dislike Count in Private Feedback for the Creators
Furthermore, the platform is not completely removing the dislike button and users can still dislike any video. The only thing is the dislike count will be visible to creators as private feedback, which will help prevent some public shaming, according to YouTube. The latest decision was announced in a blog post.
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The video streaming giant has stated that the removal of the dislike count is not being controlled by any regulatory changes, but rather its support for creators. “We are proactively making this change because YouTube has a responsibility to protect creators, especially smaller creators, from harassment and dislike attacks,” a spokesperson said.
Small Creators Are Targeted More with the Dislike Attacks
YouTube chose to remove dislike count after its tests showed a decrease in attacking response towards small creators. “Viewers could still see and use the dislike button. But because the dislike 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,” the company said.
Moreover, small-scale content creators believe that they have just begun a channel and are being unjustly targeted by dislike attacks, which was proved by an experiment performed by the platform. YouTube further states that this attacking behavior occurred at a greater proportion on smaller channels.
Therefore, the company is just making the dislike counts private across YouTube, but the dislike button is not going away. Creators will be able to view their exact dislike counts in YouTube Studio, along with other current metrics to learn how their content is performing.
