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Making the dislike count private across YouTube

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Re: Making the dislike count private across YouTube

#161

Post by alex_c »

This change is very upsetting. Ever since becoming a parent, I've been baffled by a mystery.

I noticed that - unlike most other popular content - children's videos on YouTube almost always have roughly a 2:1 like to dislike ratio no matter what channel or type of content. Why? Where do all the dislikes come from?

Is it from kids mashing touch screens at random? Parents taking what small revenge they can at being subjected to the same songs on repeat thousands of times? Some shady underground power struggle between kids' content creators sabotaging each other?

I always assumed I would eventually find an answer, but now if dislike counts are going away I am unlikely to ever find out. I will probably have to carry this unanswered mystery with me for the rest of my life.

Thanks, YouTube.

Re: Making the dislike count private across YouTube

#162

Post by qqtt »

deelowe wrote: post #90
vezycash wrote: post #75

And when people stop hitting the dislike button cos they feel it doesn't count, Youtube would retire the dislike button, citing low usage.

They have been steadily moving towards recommendation engines that rely more on inferred behaviors than direct feedback for a long time. I'm surprised they didn't just completely eliminate dislikes. That aside, timing sure is interesting given the recent Nintendo fiasco. Wonder how much they spend on ads each quarter.

It's probably not so much about Nintendo specifically as one advertising partner, as much as it is about encouraging the advertiser ecosystem to be comfortable with continually spending money on Youtube as a platform.

If Youtube removes dislikes, there is less risk for these viral "dislike" moments to happen, which can make content producers and advertisers nervous.

Additionally, Google probably puts way more resources than you might expect into things like moderating the usage of the dislike button and making sure it isn't exploited by bots, nefarious actors, etc.

Not much downside from the business side of Youtube in taking steps to sunset the button.

Re: Making the dislike count private across YouTube

#163

Post by rileymat2 »

woah wrote: post #136
louissan wrote: post #110

I find this pathetic. As if the removal of the "dislike button" helps in any way, shape or form to create a more "inclusive" environment. This reeks of the silencing of what is perceived as dissident voices, is all. I've personally never hit a like or dislike button in my life, never will ... but found it interesting as a viewer to see the ratio. Even knowing this ratio is probably at least partially the outcome of b…

I know we're not supposed to tell people to RTFA on here... but i feel like i should tell you that they are not removing the dislike button

To be fair, most of his comment is about the count and not the button itself. Which they are removing.

Re: Making the dislike count private across YouTube

#164

Post by kiryin »

I wonder what likes and dislikes are even for. They don't generate income for channel owners afaik, nor do they affect the recommendation algorithm for users, also afaik. Only views "matter." Especially if the other half gets hidden now, they should just get rid of the whole thing. It doesn't seem to provide anyone with anything, except useless bandwagoning

Re: Making the dislike count private across YouTube

#165

Post by josefresco »

louissan wrote: post #110

I find this pathetic. As if the removal of the "dislike button" helps in any way, shape or form to create a more "inclusive" environment. This reeks of the silencing of what is perceived as dissident voices, is all. I've personally never hit a like or dislike button in my life, never will ... but found it interesting as a viewer to see the ratio. Even knowing this ratio is probably at least partially the outcome of b…

From the article..

"What we learned from the experiment: Those in the experiment could still see and use the public dislike button, but because the count was not visible to them, we found that they were less likely to target a video’s dislike button to drive up the count. In short, our experiment data showed a reduction in dislike attacking behavior 1. We’ve also heard directly from smaller creators, and those just getting started with their YouTube channel, that they are unfairly targeted by dislike attacks. Our experiment data confirmed that this behavior does occur at a higher proportion on smaller channels."

It's not about appeasing Disney, it's about discouraging shitty behavior.

Re: Making the dislike count private across YouTube

#168

Post by Strom »

louissan wrote: post #110

I find this pathetic. As if the removal of the "dislike button" helps in any way, shape or form to create a more "inclusive" environment. This reeks of the silencing of what is perceived as dissident voices, is all. I've personally never hit a like or dislike button in my life, never will ... but found it interesting as a viewer to see the ratio. Even knowing this ratio is probably at least partially the outcome of b…

> Disney, DC Comics and the like must've complained about bad ratings/unfavourable like/dislike ratios I guess..

The most disliked video on YouTube happens to be a video made by YouTube themselves. [1] I guess they really didn't like that.

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[1] YouTube Rewind 2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-disliked_YouTube_...

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