YouTube has officially announced the removal of the counter of dislikes under the video. Currently, the innovation is being tested among a limited number of users both in the web version and in mobile applications for smartphones. According to a statement from the service team on Twitter, this is a response to numerous complaints from video content authors who suffer from aggressive cyberbullying.
The experiment will be carried out over the next few weeks. Test group participants (who have already lost their dislikes for the video) are not allowed to refuse to participate in testing. Viewers will be able to continue to thumbs down, but the total number of Dislikes next to the button will no longer be displayed. The functionality of the dislikes system does not change in any way – they still affect personal recommendations. The redesign is just a text signature under the badge instead of the traditional counter.
YouTube notes that this is about hiding the public dislikes counter. The authors of video content will have the opportunity to view the rating of negative ratings in the personal account of the YouTube creative studio.