Google has decided to conceal the number of dislikes on all YouTube videos. The corporation does this to avoid “targeted dislike attacks and bullying” on the site. The dislike button will still be present.
The update will be progressively sent out to all YouTube users beginning Wednesday, according to Google. Following the change, the amount of thumbs down on a YouTube video is only available to the uploader and is therefore no longer public.
Users have the option to continue disliking videos. According to the firm, this will affect the suggested videos that viewers watch, and dislikes should also operate as private feedback for YouTube producers.
According to Google, the business is aware that some users use hate statistics to choose whether or not to view a video. “We understand that you may disagree with our decision, but we feel it is the best thing for the platform,” the business added.
The shift is unsurprising. Experiments with masking dislikes on YouTube videos have been ongoing since the end of March. The company would not comment on the former experiment’s findings but claims that fewer “dislike assaults” were carried out on videos when the number of dislikes was concealed. In such assaults, groups of people offer negative feedback on certain YouTube videos or channels.
According to Google, feedback indicates that smaller and newer YouTube channels, in particular, are becoming victims of this behavior, which the firm wishes to avoid in the future. “We aim to foster an open and respectful atmosphere in which artists may prosper and feel secure expressing themselves.”
