YouTube, goodbye to the number of 'dislikes' from videos

YouTube has decided: the 'dislike' count under the videos will no longer be visible.

The move, according to the company part of the Alphabet group, was necessary to "create an inclusive and respectful environment".

To date, YouTube, along with Reddit, is one of the few platforms to offer users the ability to vote against content, while social networks like Twitter, Facebook and TikTok push towards more positive and less divisive interactions.

    Instagram introduced the ability to hide the 'likes' from posted photos in May. As the YouTube team explains, the thumbs down has often been used by subscribers to conduct hate and bullying campaigns against other users. In the testing phase, the changes made people "less likely to click the 'dislike' button on a video to increase its count". Surfers will still be able to click the 'dislike', which will optimize the recommended content, but the number of 'dislike' will no longer be public but only available to the creators of the video.

"This is an important step to reduce behaviors that aim to silence and harass creators, especially smaller ones and channels that are just starting to post," explains a spokesperson on the company blog.

The YouTube post announcing plans to hide 'dislike' counts was also disliked by 33,000 people, getting more than four times the number of 'likes'.

After the news, YouTube rejected user complaints that the move amounts to censorship and protection of big brands and advertisers.