The “Dislike” Button On Youtube Has Been Removed In Order To Combat Hate Speech. Find Out Why And How This Happened Here.
According to a recent announcement, YouTube will remove dislike counts from private videos throughout its entire network. As a result of the significant impact it has on the public’s visibility into a video’s reception, the decision is certain to be contentious. But YouTube believes that making this tweak would help to better protect its artists from abuse and reduce the likelihood of “dislike attacks,” which occur when a group of people collaborate to boost the number of dislikes a video receives on the site.
Even while hate data will no longer be published to the public, the dislike button will continue to be available, according to the company. Users may still utilise the thumbs down button on videos to voice their discontent to the video’s creators in a covert manner. During this time, producers will be able to track their dislikes in YouTube Studio, as well as other data pertaining to the performance of their videos, if they so want.
The tweak is the outcome of an experiment undertaken by YouTube earlier this year to determine whether such adjustments may help to reduce hate attacks and creator harassment on the platform.
What is the reason for YouTube’s removal of the “dislike” button?
In a statement at the time, YouTube stated that public dislike counts can have an influence on the well-being of video producers and may motivate targeted campaigns to generate dislikes for specific videos. However, although this is true, dislikes may also be used to tell users when videos are clickbait or spam, or when they are deceptive, which can be useful information.
Furthermore, YouTube has indicated that it has received complaints from smaller producers and others who were just getting started on the site that they were being unfairly targeted by hate assaults on the platform. According to the results of the trial, smaller-channel producers were more likely than larger-channel creators to be targeted with hate attacks.
TechCrunch asked YouTube for further information about the experiments and the data gathered as a result of them, but the company declined to share any details. It did, however, declare that it evaluated the alterations for “many months” and conducted an “in-depth analysis of the impact” of the changes on both consumers and manufacturers.
In an attempt to eliminate the dislike counts, the company has experimented with a variety of designs and techniques, for example, one in which the button of “Dislike” is shown beneath the thumbs down button rather than the number of dislikes. In the end, the company settled on this design, which is a less distracting variation on the traditional interaction buttons underneath a video that was previously in use.
What does YouTube have planned for the future?
In the case of YouTube, the company has attempted to go ahead with some of the necessary changes by implementing additional security and privacy protections for users between the ages of 13 and 17, as well as lowering the monetization opportunities for “unhealthy” children’s video. Corporate executives are being forced to address other parts of their platforms that may be harmful to large groups of people as a result of the larger market transformation.
Of course, the firm is taking this step at a time when the competition for creative talent among tech behemoths is growing increasingly tough. In the face of increased competition, particularly from TikTok, today’s social networks are establishing funds to help them retain their most talented producers. A $100 million creator fund was announced by YouTube this year to help the company develop its short-form video platform, for example. In addition, during the last year or so, it has implemented a number of new features and policies aimed at improving the overall creative experience.
With effect from today, the changes to the dislike count will be pushed out globally throughout YouTube’s platform, which includes all devices and the internet.
