YouTube is testing a system where you can no longer see the number of dislikes.
YouTube announced on Twitter that it was testing a system that would no longer display the number of dislikes. The reason for this was the feedback from the creators, who from time to time fall victim to so-called “dislike campaigns”.
“In response to feedback from creators on wellbeing and targeted dislike campaigns, we’re testing a few new designs that don’t show the number of public dislikes. If you’re part of this little experiment, you might see one of these designs in the next few weeks (example below!) ”- YouTube on Twitter.
👍👎 In response to feedback from authors on wellbeing and targeted dislike campaigns, we’re testing some new designs that don’t show the number of dislikes in public. If you’re part of this little experiment, you might discover one of these designs in the coming weeks (sample below!). pic.twitter.com/aemrIcnrbx
– YouTube (@YouTube) March 30, 2021
While the number of dislikes is not shown publicly under a video, creators can still see the exact number in YouTube Studio, the system’s back-end tool. This means that user feedback is still made available to those who need it but negates any negative effects that could arise from the publicly visible number.
YouTube notes that the experiment is “small” and only applies to selected users. There is no guarantee that this is the direction YouTube will go. For now, this is just a test to gather feedback and examine the results of the change.
