YouTube is toying with the idea of removing the dislike counts

YouTube is testing the removal public dislike counts on videos, but will not be getting rid of the dislike button entirely.

As part of the experiment, users will start seeing a few potential new designs for the like and dislike buttons that appear below videos, one of which could resemble the below.

Although the dislike button kept its usual position next to the like button, it doesn`t feature public count.

YouTube has decided to start these experiments in response to feedback that dislike counts can affect the well-being of creators, as sometimes the dislike button can be used as part of a motivated campaign to target a creator`s content, such that it can result in exceeding the likes count.

This way YouTube will find out if by removing the dislike button public counts will result in fewer targeted dislike campaigns.

Viewers who are part of the test group can continue to like and dislike videos, while YouTube channels can still be able to view their counts on individual videos when they login to YouTube Studio.

So you may wonder, why all this if creators can still view the dislike public counts? Wouldn`t be better off removing the dislike button entirely?

YouTube wants to improve the creator experience while also ensuring viewer feedback is accounted for and shared back to the creator. When it`s not being used maliciously, the dislike button has a practical purpose for YouTube users, that is to tune YouTube`s recommendation algorithm to one`s individual tastes.

When a user dislikes a video, they are less likely to see recommendations for similar types of videos on their home page.

For creators the dislike button can be a useful source of viewer feedback when it`s being used as intended.

That`s why the dislike button will remain underneath the videos, and it`s impact on video recommendations, at least for the time being, will remain the same.

YouTube will not opt out from this experiment, but the company will be closely monitoring feedback to consider if it should proceed with a broad rollout.

YouTube is not the first to experiment with hiding engagement numbers, as back in 2019 we saw Instagram experimenting with removing like counts.

The motivation was the same, to improve the mental health of its users.

Facebook too started similar experiments months after, but both were short lived and like counts returned to Instagram and Facebook.

We will keep monitoring and see where all this is heading.

Tell us what you think below, will YouTube remove the dislike button
entirely or just hide the public counts? Does this affect you?