YouTube has brought a new change to its platform, which includes
hiding public dislike counts on videos. The company decided to introduce the
update in an attempt to save smaller content creators on YouTube from being
targeted by dislike attacks or harassment. YouTube started testing the hidden dislike
counts option back in March.
This will be surprisingly new to most users, as they are habitual of seeing the like-to-dislike ratio right below the videos, hence making their own judgements about the video or channel based on the numbers.
The comment “I just came here to dislike” became a common
remark on YouTube videos that didn’t receive quite the appreciation from
viewers. Disrespectful comments like this will become invalid, now that nobody
will be able to see the dislike counts. Of course, this would not result in the
end of harassment across YouTube, but will likely reduce such behavior.
Moreover, while the dislike numbers will not appear
publicly, they will still be accessible to the creators themselves.
YouTube’s hidden dislike counts tactic is similar to other
social platforms’ that provide users with the option to hide rating metrics,
such as the ability to hide like counts on Instagram and Facebook.
