YouTube Is Making Changes To The Dislike Button, Here’s Why

Following an experiment conducted by YouTube, the Google-owned video-sharing platform has decided to make some changes to the dislike button.

The experiment attempted to find out if alterations made to the dislike button could limit harassment targeted at creators.

“This change will roll out slowly over the next few days,” they said. “ We understand that some of you won’t agree with this decision... but we believe that this is the right thing to do for our platform–to better protect creators from harassment.”

The dislike button isn’t disappearing, however. Viewers can still dislike a video, although the count is still accessible to whoever uploaded the video. Content creators can keep tabs on their dislikes in YouTube Studio.

Research showed that if the dislike count is not available to viewers, they were not as likely to target a video’s dislike button to intentionally increase the total.

"In short, our experiment data showed a reduction in dislike attacking behavior” YouTube stated in a blog post. “We want to create an inclusive and respectful environment where creators have the opportunity to succeed and feel safe to express themselves."