YouTube announced a new update to the platform with the aim of removing the Dislike button counter, making the famous site one of the most controversial decisions in its history.
Removing the dislike button counter means that the videos will have the like button, the number of fans of the clip, and the dislike button without the number of people who did not like the video. YouTube says it made the decision to prevent targeted attacks on videos and protect content creators from harassment. YouTube also says that it was based on a recent study that showed that hiding this counter contributed to reducing viewers' dislike of clips and reducing embarrassment and distress for the content creator.
The dislike button itself will remain, so you can make your feelings known if you truly must. It’s just the public counter displaying how many times the dislike button has been clicked that’s going away.
This should indeed help out smaller creators who are attacked like this, and help protect their channel from the adverse results of potential viewers seeing massively disliked videos.
At the same time, there’s also the unmentioned fact that this will help out massive companies whose videos can be disliked because they’ve done something fans feel is shitty. Or indeed a situation where a mass-dislike campaign is one of the only ways people can feel like they’re protesting in a world in which they feel increasingly powerless.