author: Miriam Moszczynska
YouTube Removes Dislike Counter to Protect Against Hate
YouTube is making changes to how videos are rated. Soon the number of negative video ratings will be visible only to the creators.
- YouTube has announced changes regarding dislike counter under videos;
- Soon, only the number of likes will be visible;
- The statistics for the number of likes will only be available for the channel's host.
Youtube has announced a rather controversial change regarding ratings found under videos. It's about the issue of dislikes, the number of which will be visible only to the creators from now on. It is worth noting here - the option of giving negative ratings itself does not disappear. We can still adjust the content that we do not want to see on our main page with the help of dislikes.
The motivation for the change were tests conducted by YouTube. They showed very clearly that lack of insight into the number of negative ratings of the video, reduced the risk of thoughtless "increase" of this value. And such behavior was visible both under the materials of the most popular channels, as well as creators who just started their adventure. YouTube explains the change in this way:
"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," writes a post on YouTube's offical blog post
There's one more thing worth mentioning, which Matt Koval (content creator and YouTube employee) also talked about in the video about the change in like/dislike counters. It is not due to the amount of negative reviews under YouTube Rewind 2018. Although there are a few teams at the company that have had the opportunity to feel the wave of hate on their own skin.