History of YouTube Dislike Button: Why was it Removed?

History of YouTube Dislike Button: Why was it Removed?

Last year, YouTube made a decision to remove the dislike button count from under the videos uploaded on the platform. They have been working on the concept since March 2021. The plans were officially rolled out in November 2021. Initially, the news of the removal received a lot of criticism, especially on Reddit.
In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about the history of the…

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History of YouTube Dislike Button: Why was it Removed?

Last year, YouTube made a decision to remove the dislike button count from under the videos uploaded on the platform. They have been working on the concept since March 2021. The plans were officially rolled out in November 2021. Initially, the news of the removal received a lot of criticism, especially on Reddit.

In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about the history of the YouTube dislike button and why it was removed.

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When did YouTube announce the removal of the dislike button?

On 30th March 2021, YouTube announced that they were going to alter the dislike button on their platform. After the announcement was made on Twitter, it instantly received a ton of criticism. The reason behind YouTube removing dislike button was the feedback they got on targeted dislike campaigns from creators.

They also emphasized that they are not going to entirely remove the dislike button. Instead, they will experiment with hiding the count so that only the creator can see the number of users who have disliked their video.

After the platform made the announcement on Twitter, Matt Koval, YouTube creator liaison, shared a video where he explained why YouTube made this decision. He added that through this step, they hope to help its content creators. He went on to say that there are groups of users on the platform who target the dislike button to increase its count. For these users, this is like a game that has a visible scoreboard for everyone to see. In most cases, it is because they don’t like the creator and what they stand for. According to Koval, this was in direct violation of YouTube’s mission to give everyone a voice. Ironically, the video received more dislikes than likes. And, even though there might have been some who just wanted to increase the dislike count, for some, it was to explain that they don’t think that this is a good plan.

When did the experiment begin?

In order to decide on whether or not they could change the dislike button, YouTube conducted an experiment in July 2021. The Google-owned platform gave access to the dislike button to the viewers but hid the number. As a result, there was a decrease in “dislike attacking behavior.” They also mentioned that the platform heard from small creators directly, ones who were just getting started on the platform and were targeted unfairly by this behavior. Because of this, they were able to confirm that smaller channels are the ones most affected by the dislike button.

Before this, the creators had the option to turn their likes and dislikes button. However, this also meant that they weren’t able to benefit from engagement.

Why did YouTube decide to conduct this experiment?

According to the platform, the public dislike button on YouTube can affect the well-being of the creator and motivate viewers to participate in targeted campaigns of adding dislikes to videos. Even though this is true, it is important to note that dislikes act as a signal to viewers when videos are misleading, spam, or clickbait.

YouTube also mentioned that smaller creators and creators who had just started on the platform reached out to them about the unfair dislike attacks on their channel. This was proven to be true by the experiment.

Even though YouTube didn’t share specific details regarding the collected data through the experiment, it did say that they ran the tests for several months and conducted an in-depth and thorough analysis of the impact of the dislike button. They wanted to understand how the changes would affect the creators and the viewers.

During the experiment, they worked on creating different designs to remove the dislike button. One of these was where instead of the number of dislikes, the ‘Dislike’ word appeared under the thumbs down button. This is the one that they eventually chose to implement on the platform. The new design is believed to be a less disruptive change to the engagement buttons row under the video.

What could have been the alternative?

In 2019, Tom Leung, then YouTube’s director of project management, talked about how removing dislikes wasn’t democratic as not every dislike is part of a campaign. Instead, he recommended adding granularity to downvotes by adding a checkbox where the viewer could answer why they didn’t like the video. However, this would have been more complicated to build. YouTube abandoned any of such efforts and chose to go with the easy route of hiding the dislike count. Some believe this is just YouTube’s way of taking a shortcut and avoiding tackling bigger issues on their platform, like radicalization, animal abuse, extortion, child predators, and more.

When did YouTube remove the dislike button?

After conducting their long experiment, on 10th November 2021, YouTube finally removed its dislike button. Users were not happy with this change. In their update, they made the change where dislikes were now hidden from the viewers, which drew in a lot of viewers. Some users even threatened to cancel their YouTube subscriptions.

In response to the announcement, there were multiple petitions for change.org through which the users tried to convince the platform to reverse this update and make the count public. Several creators published videos talking about the update and how it would impact the engagement. Some believed that this change would make it difficult for the creators to check the dislikes on their videos and know how they can improve things.

This type of protest has worked before. When Disqus removed downvotes from their platform, creators were not happy. Because of the backlash they received from the community, they brought them back. However, since it’s been about six months since the update was made, it seems highly unlikely that YouTube will revert its decision. It seems that creators and viewers will have to live with the hidden dislikes counts.

The co-founder of YouTube, Jawed Karim, wasn’t happy with this decision either. He called the decision stupid. In fact, he updated the description of ‘Me at the zoo,’ the first video ever posted on YouTube, where he mentioned that when every creator agrees that removing the dislikes count is stupid, it probably is.

There were some users who joked that the platform removed the dislike button out of spite after their 2018 Rewind video became the most disliked video on the platform. However, there were some users with serious concerns regarding the suppression of their freedom of speech. That being said, there are some creators who have been quite welcoming to this change.

Even though the platform received a lot of criticism for this new update, it remained adamant about its decision.

What has been the impact of this change?

At a time of public reckoning of big tech and how it impacts people’s health, YouTube introduced its change to the dislike button. It is not just YouTube that has made a change. Social media platforms are now forced to rethink their systems design to target their user base and make changes as per the new regulations.
Lawmakers are taking tech execs to court and creating legislations aimed at controlling some of the more problematic elements of platforms like YouTube. Some of the most important areas of regulator interest are privacy, ad targeting, mental health, and misinformation.

YouTube has tried to get ahead of these changes through its increased protection and privacy features for viewers between the ages of 13 and 17. At the same time, they have also decreased the monetization potential of content deemed unhealthy for kids. Thanks to the shift in the market, companies are now pushed to consider areas of their systems that might be toxic to people.

It is important to note that the removal of the dislike count by YouTube has not been because of any regulatory changes. This decision has been made to support their creators.

Why didn’t YouTube remove the dislike button?

One of the main reasons why YouTube didn’t remove the dislike button from their platform is to make sure that their viewers are able to fine-tune their preferences and receive proper recommendations. So instead of removing the dislike button, YouTube simply removed the count. Content creators can still access the dislike accounts through YouTube Studio. This will help them understand how well their content is performing. The reason behind removing the public display of dislike count was to create a respectful and inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to express themselves safely and succeed.

Platforms like YouTube are living in a culture and economy that is led by the creators. It is imperative for them to make sure that every creator has equitable opportunities. But, most importantly, they have to safeguard their creator’s well-being to ensure that more creators join and participate actively across the platform. In the past, the dislike function has been used as a tool for targeting certain creators for the type of content they post, their actions, and their thoughts. At the same time, this is also an opportunity for creators and brands to experiment with their content and work on a robust strategy without worrying about any targeted dislikes campaign.

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Using the First 1 Minute of Your YouTube Video for Brand Promotion: Tips & Tricks

Using the First 1 Minute of Your YouTube Video for Brand Promotion: Tips & Tricks

Countless brands have taken to YouTube to promote themselves along with their products and/or services. And why not? After all, no video-streaming platform comes even close to YouTube in terms of the numbers. Right now, YouTube sees more than a whopping 2.6 billion monthly users, and it’s also second only to Google in terms of search engine popularity.
So, if you want your brand to become a…

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Using the First 1 Minute of Your YouTube Video for Brand Promotion: Tips & Tricks

Countless brands have taken to YouTube to promote themselves along with their products and/or services. And why not? After all, no video-streaming platform comes even close to YouTube in terms of the numbers. Right now, YouTube sees more than a whopping 2.6 billion monthly users, and it’s also second only to Google in terms of search engine popularity.

So, if you want your brand to become a household name one day, you simply can’t afford to not have a YouTube channel. However, simply having a YouTube channel isn’t enough – you’ve also got to create and publish videos consistently to make your mark. What’s more? You’ve also got to pay attention to the different sections of your videos. In this article, we’ll focus on the first 1 minute of your videos, or the introduction section.

Read on to know some of the most effective tips and tricks you can put into practice for promoting your brand during your videos’ first one minute. But first, let’s try and understand why the video start matters so much.

A compelling YouTube intro: Why it matters

If you watch videos created and published by the biggest brands on YouTube, you’ll find that they have one thing in common. Sure, their niches and styles may be different, but they’ve all got compelling introductions. Why do you think that is the case?

Well, the answer lies in capturing the attention of the viewers, so they feel motivated to watch a video until the video finish. When viewers watch videos from start to finish on YouTube, a channel may benefit in the following ways:

• More subscribers: The ultimate goal of every YouTuber is to turn a viewer into a subscriber. That’s why most YouTubers use the call-to-action (CTA) message ‘Subscribe to my/our channel’. However, the CTA messages can only be effective when the videos are top-notch. When you make the first 1 minute of your videos memorable, you drastically increase the likelihood of your viewers hitting that subscribe button and becoming loyal YouTube subscribers.
• Higher rates of user engagement: User engagement on YouTube refers to how viewers are interacting with your videos, i.e. whether they are liking, disliking, and/or sharing the video. YouTube comments also play an important role in increasing user engagement. So, when the first 1 minute of your YouTube videos manages to compel audiences, your user engagement is bound to shoot up. Over the last few years, the YouTube algorithm has been favorable to videos with high user engagement rates in terms of rankings.
• Increased views: The best videos are always shared by viewers, which play a vital role in increasing views. Also, if the beginnings of all your videos manage to capture the audience’s imagination, they’re likely to watch the video beyond the 30-second mark. On YouTube, a view amounts to a user watching a video for more than 30 seconds.
• Greater watch time: A channel’s watch time refers to the time spent by users watching videos on that channel. A few years back, watch time wasn’t an important metric for success on YouTube. However, times have changed, and now, it’s one of the most significant metrics on the platform. Due to the metric’s ever-increasing importance, more and more YouTubers have started to publish videos with greater frequency and consistency. It’s safe to say that when the first 1 minute across all your videos makes for great viewing, your channel’s watch time will stack up in your favor.

Tips and tricks to make the first 1 minute of your YouTube video memorable

Now that you know all the benefits that great video intros can bring to your YouTube channel, it’s time to turn our attention to the tips and tricks for creating awesome beginnings:

• Your intro should last only a few seconds: Attention spans among internet users are dwindling, and if your intro lasts more than ten seconds, viewers are bound to lose interest faster than you can blink. So, keep your intro short so your video starts immediately after the first few seconds. Only established YouTubers who already have millions of subscribers can dare to experiment with long, elaborate intros. On the other hand, beginners should get the intro out of the way as soon as possible.
• Incorporate all your branding elements into your intro: If you want your brand to stand out from the competition and be remembered by viewers, you should include all your signature branding elements into the introduction. From the logo of your brand to the color schemes to any other visual or audio elements that may define your brand – be sure to incorporate it all. Also, the way you do your branding on YouTube shouldn’t be any different from how you do branding on any other platform. For instance, if your Instagram account has certain branding elements, you should incorporate the same elements in your YouTube introductions. If you don’t, you’ll fail to achieve branding consistency.
• After you introduce your channel, introduce yourself: So, the first ten seconds or so are all about introducing your channel to your audiences. Once you’re past the channel introduction, it’s time to introduce yourself to viewers. You might be wondering why this would be necessary. Well, the fact is that no matter how incredible your branding is, your audience will only trust your brand if it can establish a human connection with it. That’s where a human face can come into the picture and work wonders. Again, keep this section short and keep it within ten seconds. In this section, you can talk about who you are and how you can provide solutions to your audience’s pain points. For instance, if your channel is about tech product reviews, you can say, ‘I review tech products, so you can choose the best ones for yourself.’
• Next, tell your audience briefly about the content of the video: After you’ve spent the first 20 seconds introducing your channel and yourself to your audience, it’s time to talk about what your video will be all about. You can make this section 20 seconds long and include all the key takeaways from your video that audiences can expect. At this point, it’s important to not give away too much information. Ideally, you’d want to incorporate some suspense to keep audiences guessing as to what’s coming up. At the same time, you should give out some information so that audiences aren’t completely in the dark regarding the content of the video.
• Include call-to-action (CTA) messages right at the get-go: So that’s 40 seconds done and dusted. In the next 20 seconds, incorporate call-to-action messages such as ‘subscribe,’ ‘like,’ and ‘share.’ This should encourage your audience to take action right at the beginning of the video. Also, tell your audience how subscribing to your channel will help your cause. Simply saying the CTA messages out loud probably won’t make enough impact on your audience. So, take your time with those CTA messages. Now that the first one minute is out of the way, you can go ahead with the main content of your video.
• Observe the best in your niche and how they structure their introductions: For inspiration, you only need to turn to YouTubers in your niche who have made it big. The thing is that you can learn a lot from your competition on YouTube. Simply watch some of their videos to understand how they work with their introductions. Of course, it’s possible that you won’t like each introduction. However, take notes when you find something you like. You can incorporate similar elements into your video beginnings. But you must exercise caution, as incorporating too many similar elements from other YouTubers’ channels may make your channel feel like a cheap imitation. So, don’t forget to add your own unique twist to things.
• Tie things together during the editing process: A lot of YouTubers have managed to become successful simply by honing and mastering their editing skills. Quite simply, if you don’t want your videos’ introductions to have any loose ends, you’ve got to focus on editing. Even if things went slightly awry during the recording stage (which is likely for new YouTubers), you can put things right during the production stage. You can find countless resources on the internet that can help you out with a wide variety of editing tips and tricks.

Conclusion

If your brand is primarily focusing on promoting itself through 1-minute videos using the YouTube Shorts feature, you can cut down your brand promotion to ten seconds or so. However, if long-form videos are your thing, you simply can’t afford to neglect the first one minute of your videos.

We’ve almost come to the end of this article, but before we bid you goodbye this time, we’d like to tell you about SubPals. If your brand is taking its baby steps on YouTube, it needs the numbers to be on its side to make a mark. That’s where SubPals can come into the picture and help you out. SubPals offers a software tool that offers YouTube likes and YouTube views. You can also buy YouTube subscribers through SubPals.

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