This morning, YouTube announced that the platform will no longer be showing dislike count on videos and streams after months of speculation and rumors about changes to the long-standing feature circulated the web.

Starting today, YouTube will be removing the dislike count for all viewers, with content creators still able to check the number of dislikes on their videos in Studio Analytics under the Engagement tab. While users are still able to press the dislike button, as usual, the number of dislikes will no longer be shown to them.

Apparently, groups of viewers are targeting a video's dislike button to drive up the count, turning it into something like a game with a visible scoreboard. And it's usually just because they don't like the creator or what they stand for. That's a big problem when half of YouTube's mission is to give everyone a voice. […] The update from YouTube is that the dislike button is staying, but the dislike counts will now be private. […] Only the creator can find it on the backend, if they want.

The initial reactions to the change were mainly negative, with users expressing concerns that the removal of the dislike button could lead to a proliferation of content that is misleading or poorly made since user input would no longer be easily visible.

This change is absolutely horrible and will only lead to harm your userbase.
Dislikes were an excellent way to tell at a glance whether content was fishy, misleading, or had outright false information.

— Wari FunniMan (@Zari_Wari) November 10, 2021

I hate to get so formal about this, but I really suggest you revert this change. This will only lead to scam videos thriving on your platform, as no one will be able to tell what's fake and what's real. Again, this is a horrible change, and I hope the response gets you to revert.

— Jingle CelS (@CELSHDR) November 10, 2021

Can you please add the option to opt in to displaying our dislike count? I'd prefer to publicly show my dislike count.

Stop acting like this is being done for smaller creators, it's being done to protect big creators from criticism.

— CYYNAPSE (@cyynapse) November 10, 2021

YouTube had been testing the removal of the dislike count on videos since March, but today marks the first official announcement from the company about the change.