YouTube has announced that it would no longer display dislike numbers on all videos on its platform. YouTube hopes that this modification would encourage “respectful interactions between viewers and creators.” It will also safeguard small creators who are the victim of dislike attacks or harassment.
The dislike button, however, will not be removed from the platform, and users will still be able to dislike any video. According to YouTube, the dislike count would only be seen to creators as private feedback, which will help prevent some public shaming.
Furthermore, smaller creators think they have just recently launched a channel and are being unfairly targeted by this behaviour, which was proven by a platform experiment. According to YouTube, people are more likely to engage in attacking behaviour on small channels.
