YouTube Dislike Button Abuse
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About
YouTube Dislike Button Abuse refers to the alleged issue of YouTube's dislike feature being abused by so-called "dislike mobs". After a YouTube representative addressed the issue in a Creator Insider episode, mentioning that YouTube removing the dislike button altogether was one of the considered options, numerous memes criticizing the platform and the considered move were circulated online.
Origin
On January 29th, 2019, YouTube's corporate series for content creators Creator Insider[1] posted a video in which the Director of Project Management at YouTube Tom Leung addressed the issue of so-called "dislike mobs" on the platform. In the video, he presented four potential options which YouTube was considering for tackling the problem in the future, with the most radical solution being to remove the dislike button altogether. The video gained over 39,500 views in one week.
Dislike mobs – this is where a group of people will go to a video, not even watch a video and just purposely hit the "thumbs down". […]
Another option is just to remove dislikes entirely from YouTube. That's a very extreme option. That one doesn't seem like super-democratic in my opinion, because not all dislikes are dislike mobs, there are just people expressing their opinion about a video.
Spread
The information presented in the video was covered by several news outlets, including The Verge[2], Engadget[3] and Ars Technica[4], with many outlets highlighting the considered decision to remove the dislike button and usage of the term "dislike mobs".
In the following week, links to the articles were posted on various subreddits[5][6][7][8], with most posts emphasizing the YouTube's intent to remove the dislike button, while dislike-heavy ratings of 2018 YouTube Rewind and Gillette's The Best Men Can Be were mentioned as a potential reason for the move.
Starting February 5th, 2019 memes about the dislike button removal considerations started appearing on various subreddits. On February 5th, Redditor[9] WokeGD_ combined image of the Spanish Laughing Guy with a headline of Ars Technica's news article on the issue. The post gained over 49,500 upvotes in 48 hours. On the same day, Redditor[10] ChrisTweten posted a Spongebob meme mocking YouTube's efforts to improve the platform which gained over 19,800 upvotes in 48 hours.
Following the initial posts, more memes referring to the issue appeared on Reddit, including /r/dankmemes[11], /r/PewdiepieSubmissions[12] and /r/comics[13] subreddits.
Dislike Count Hiding Experiment
On March 30th, 2021, YouTube announced[14] a limited experiment in which some users would no longer be shown the dislike count for videos. The dislike button was not affected by the change.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] YouTube – Non Skippable Ads, new features in Studio Beta, and more!
[2] The Verge – YouTube wants ‘dislike mobs’ to stop weaponizing the dislike button
[3] Engadget – YouTube will experiment with ways to prevent dislike button 'mobs'
[4] Ars Technica – YouTube is trying to prevent angry mobs from abusing “dislike” button
[5] Reddit – Youtube is studying to change or remove the dislike button
[6] Reddit – Youtube wants to remove the Dislike button
[7] Reddit – YouTube looking into removing the dislike button after Gillette Ad, YouTube Rewind fails
[8] Reddit – YouTube wanting to take away the dislike button is a big deal and should be treated as such
[9] Reddit – oops guess we're "angry mobs" now
[10] Reddit – Adpocalypse 2? Adpocalypse 2 time, it is.
[11] Reddit – Why are you booing me
[12] Reddit – Youtube is literally going against its own community at this point.
[13] Reddit – Youtube these days…
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