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IPFS News Link • Censorship

Why Is YouTube Hiding Dislikes From Videos?

• https://www.makeuseof.com, BY DANNY MAIORCA

In the battle to limit online abuse, many social media platforms are taking steps to reduce this. YouTube is one of these; the company is currently carrying out a test where the number of dislikes is hidden from public view.

So, what does this mean? Will you no longer be able to dislike videos, and are creators going to miss out on getting valuable feedback? This article will answer both of these questions, plus more.

A Brief History of Likes and Dislikes on YouTube

YouTube launched in 2005 but has not always used the likes and dislikes feature. In its early years, users provided feedback with a star system. Depending on their thoughts, they could rank each video anywhere between one and five stars.

But in 2009, the platform questioned whether the star rating system was a valuable way for providing feedback. In a post on the YouTube Blog published in September of that year, YouTube said:

We're glad there are so many awesome videos on YouTube, but all of this begs the question: if the majority of videos are getting five stars, how useful is this system really? Would a thumbs up/thumbs down be more effective, or does favoriting do the trick of declaring your love for a video?


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