32 votes

YouTube will no longer publicly display the dislike count on videos

23 comments

  1. [5]
    Seven
    Link
    Yet again YouTube makes a terrible decision that no one asked for, making its platform worse in the process. Now conspiracy videos or far-right propaganda videos will meet even less resistance...

    Yet again YouTube makes a terrible decision that no one asked for, making its platform worse in the process. Now conspiracy videos or far-right propaganda videos will meet even less resistance than they meet now.

    23 votes
    1. AugustusFerdinand
      Link Parent
      Oh, it was asked for. Just not by any of the nutjobs, but by the various companies that get massive dislikes on their videos.

      Yet again YouTube makes a terrible decision that no one asked for

      Oh, it was asked for. Just not by any of the nutjobs, but by the various companies that get massive dislikes on their videos.

      12 votes
    2. [3]
      teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      I don’t think it matters. Dislikes just mean that the deep state is out there with a dislike bot net or the sheeple got there first.

      I don’t think it matters. Dislikes just mean that the deep state is out there with a dislike bot net or the sheeple got there first.

      9 votes
      1. [2]
        Jedi
        Link Parent
        Yeah, the people consuming this type of content do not care what other people think. On political videos, the like/dislike is effectively an agree/disagree button, completely useless.

        Yeah, the people consuming this type of content do not care what other people think.
        On political videos, the like/dislike is effectively an agree/disagree button, completely useless.

        4 votes
        1. Seven
          Link Parent
          Except for the people discovering the content for the first time. Of course it doesn't matter for people whose minds are already made up.

          Except for the people discovering the content for the first time. Of course it doesn't matter for people whose minds are already made up.

          6 votes
  2. [6]
    Odysseus
    Link
    I used the dislikes to gauge trustworthiness of videos, especially for informational content or tutorials. I get why they're doing this, but I feel that they could've done something else like not...

    I used the dislikes to gauge trustworthiness of videos, especially for informational content or tutorials. I get why they're doing this, but I feel that they could've done something else like not allowing likes/dislikes until you watched X% of a video, and still had the same effect

    19 votes
    1. [5]
      ali
      Link Parent
      In Germany, Covid conspiracy theorists disliked every news post reporting on Covid. Organized manipulation to convince people to join their cause… that’s sadly the flip side of showing the dislikes

      In Germany, Covid conspiracy theorists disliked every news post reporting on Covid. Organized manipulation to convince people to join their cause… that’s sadly the flip side of showing the dislikes

      4 votes
      1. Odysseus
        Link Parent
        Which is why I wouldn't be against doing something like requiring a person watch a certain percentage of the video before they like/dislike it. By increasing the amount of effort required to...

        Which is why I wouldn't be against doing something like requiring a person watch a certain percentage of the video before they like/dislike it. By increasing the amount of effort required to like/dislike, it should discourage a large portion of that kind of mob behavior

        3 votes
      2. [3]
        joelthelion
        Link Parent
        They can still do that even if the down votes are hidden, can't they?

        They can still do that even if the down votes are hidden, can't they?

        1. [2]
          ali
          Link Parent
          If it doesn’t show, the effect of manipulating other viewers is gone. My app still showed the dislikes 30 minutes ago, luckily I snagged some screenshots to prove my point. Video 1: "50,000 new...

          If it doesn’t show, the effect of manipulating other viewers is gone.

          My app still showed the dislikes 30 minutes ago, luckily I snagged some screenshots to prove my point.

          Video 1: "50,000 new infections: we have to act now- but how?" - 7 hours old - 200 likes, 1300 dislikes

          Video 2: "Covid numbers explode. […]" - 22h old - 200 likes, 800 dislikes

          Video 3: "Corona-Winter: mandatory vaccinations - yes or no?" - 10 hours ago, 860 likes, 950 dislikes.

          Video 4: "corona-Situation in the ICU" 22h ago- 400 likes, 1000 dislikes.

          https://imgur.com/a/yh6rDLl/

          3 votes
          1. joelthelion
            Link Parent
            If the algorithm still takes them into account, you can still coordinate to bury content you don't like. It's more insidious, if anything.

            If the algorithm still takes them into account, you can still coordinate to bury content you don't like. It's more insidious, if anything.

            6 votes
  3. an_angry_tiger
    Link
    From reading people talk about this on the internet (more elsewhere than here), I'm really surprised by how many people say they paid attention to the dislikes count. I honestly don't think I've...

    From reading people talk about this on the internet (more elsewhere than here), I'm really surprised by how many people say they paid attention to the dislikes count. I honestly don't think I've paid attention to or noticed dislike counts on videos -- and I'm only speaking for myself and acknowledge opinions to the contrary, but I don't think I'll miss them, I'm not even sure I'll notice when they're gone.

    Sometimes I do wonder if I'm in a bizarro alternate youtube where things just work fine though. I don't get Jordan Peterson videos recommended to me, I don't really get any political video recommendations (aside from the NYTimes and Vox channels that I subscribed to and seldom watch), for the most part all I see are things directly relevant to my tastes -- comedy podcasts, art videos, videos about movies, cooking videos, people I've subscribed to. I'm not sure what I did but youtube overall is a very neutral and pleasant experience for me, and I use it basically all day long.

    13 votes
  4. [4]
    feigneddork
    Link
    Absolutely pleased they have made this decision, but it’s a decision almost a decade too late. YouTube really should’ve done something about the amount of dislikes years ago. I wonder though if...

    Absolutely pleased they have made this decision, but it’s a decision almost a decade too late.

    YouTube really should’ve done something about the amount of dislikes years ago. I wonder though if this has something to do with their YouTube rewind and then being the target of that harassment meaning they opened their eyes to it for the first time.

    9 votes
    1. [4]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. [3]
        petrichor
        Link Parent
        There's an idea out there that hiding or removing the dislike button prevents dislike brigading and encourages less combative behavior. It's the reason Tildes doesn't have a dislike button - and...

        There's an idea out there that hiding or removing the dislike button prevents dislike brigading and encourages less combative behavior. It's the reason Tildes doesn't have a dislike button - and why HN doesn't give you one until you participate in the site for a little while.

        On the other hand, YouTube has a problem with spam, clickbait, and low-quality content that's usually dealt with differently (actively removed) on discussion websites. Without any plan to replace how dislikes help discourage those - I can't see this change going well.

        12 votes
        1. [2]
          skybrian
          Link Parent
          The dislike button is still there, so YouTube can still use it as a signal for recommendations. The author can still see it (if they care). They’re just not making the count public. (Also for spam...

          The dislike button is still there, so YouTube can still use it as a signal for recommendations. The author can still see it (if they care). They’re just not making the count public.

          (Also for spam you should use the “Report” menu item.)

          9 votes
          1. petrichor
            Link Parent
            Oh, I wasn't clear - I think the dislike ratio discourages spam and clickbait by acting as a warning system to users. I basically do the same thing as @Odysseus above.

            Oh, I wasn't clear - I think the dislike ratio discourages spam and clickbait by acting as a warning system to users.

            I basically do the same thing as @Odysseus above.

            10 votes
  5. admicos
    Link
    I feel like "both sides" have real arguments here. On one hand, brigading dislikes are a thing, and individual channels get hit with that too (I couldn't care less about when YT Rewind or...

    I feel like "both sides" have real arguments here.

    On one hand, brigading dislikes are a thing, and individual channels get hit with that too (I couldn't care less about when YT Rewind or Activision gets bridgaded, though), so hiding dislikes might be a good idea if just for individuals getting brigaded.

    But then they're still visible to the channel owner, so I don't know how effective this would be as an anti-harassment tool.

    Hiding dislikes might also fix the phantom dislike or other "disliking just for fun" stuff weird people do for fun.


    On the other hand, having dislikes visible means viewers can judge video quality better. Titles, thumbnails, and descriptions are useless because the author controls them and can put whatever clickbait they wish, and comments are either complete jokes or from the same "echo chamber" of the author.

    But then all kinds of "controversial" videos will have plenty of dislikes from opposite sides, so dislikes are most likely only really "useable" for things that won't be controversial. Not to mention the "background radiation" of dislikes every popular video will inevitably have.

    And some people say that dislikes are only disabled to help corporate videos like the Rewinds or the bad CoD (?) trailer. As long as YouTube keeps their corporate-speak up (so, never), we won't know if this was a consideration. Though this being done now instead of back when those things happened does throw an interesting wrench into this conspiracy.

    9 votes
  6. Macil
    Link
    I've seen shitty people on 4chan and elsewhere treat it as a public victory whenever they get some video to more dislikes than likes, or get some Reddit comment downvoted into the negatives, etc....

    I've seen shitty people on 4chan and elsewhere treat it as a public victory whenever they get some video to more dislikes than likes, or get some Reddit comment downvoted into the negatives, etc. Whenever I've stumbled onto a video with a high dislike count lately, my first thought is "did this video piss off 4chan by making fun of it, or by having a woman?", and that's been about right more often than not, at least in my own experience for the videos I watch. I think it's a good move to drop the dislike count. Having a public tug-of-war on every video doesn't seem that useful.

    6 votes
  7. skybrian
    Link
    The videos I see (for music) only have a handful of dislikes and there is often a joke in the comments about who was the person who disliked this? The dislike counts weren’t useful for me. I...

    The videos I see (for music) only have a handful of dislikes and there is often a joke in the comments about who was the person who disliked this? The dislike counts weren’t useful for me. I assume they were a problem for other people.

    5 votes
  8. [2]
    nothis
    Link
    Why even display likes then?

    Why even display likes then?

    2 votes
    1. zptc
      Link Parent
      (I assume that) Dislikes are more likely to dissuade someone from watching a given video than encouraging them to watch it. The opposite is true for likes. YT wants more eyeballs on videos, so...

      (I assume that) Dislikes are more likely to dissuade someone from watching a given video than encouraging them to watch it. The opposite is true for likes. YT wants more eyeballs on videos, so there's no downside for them for removing dislikes and leaving likes.

      2 votes