Prior to November 2021, creators on the YouTube platform had access to precise dislike counts on their videos. This metric allowed them to gauge audience sentiment and potentially identify areas for improvement in their content. For instance, a video with an unusually high number of dislikes compared to views might have signaled issues with the content, presentation, or technical aspects like audio or video quality.
This readily available feedback mechanism played a significant role in content creation and platform dynamics. Creators could use dislike data to understand which topics resonated with their audience and which did not. Furthermore, the visibility of dislikes served as a form of community moderation, potentially discouraging the posting of low-quality or misleading content. However, citing creator well-being and targeted dislike campaigns, YouTube removed public access to these counts. While creators still have access to aggregate dislike data within YouTube Studio, viewers no longer see the specific number of dislikes.
