YouTube Begins Hiding “Dislike” Counts From View

The Verge reports:

YouTube has announced that it’ll be hiding public dislike counts on videos across its site, starting today. The company says the change is to keep smaller creators from being targeted by dislike attacks or harassment, and to promote “respectful interactions between viewers and creators.” The dislike button will still be there, but it’ll be for private feedback, rather than public shaming.

Other social networks have given users the option to hide rating metrics, too — Instagram and Facebook famously let you hide like counts if you want to avoid the potential social pressure that comes with having your main measure of success on the platform shown to everyone. It’s not exactly a perfect comparison — the number of likes your YouTube video gets will still be public (if you leave public ratings on).

Read the full article.

YouTube gives dislikes the thumbs-down, hides public counts https://t.co/nvuGX0A1C0 pic.twitter.com/i5vHaX0SKx

— The Verge (@verge) November 10, 2021