Soon, it is actually assumed that imminently, YouTube will lose one of the elements that, for many users, is key to deciding whether or not to watch a video. And it is that for not a few people, the negative rating count of a video can have a clear deterrent effect when watching it or, at least, to value more or less what is counted in it. What’s more, there are even people who entertain themselves by looking for videos with more positive than negative ratings.
However, this is about to disappear, as we can read on Mashable. And it is that after a test carried out a few months ago, Google would have decided that showing the negative vote counter can cause certain damages, which would not compensate for their positive points. And therefore, and as we can read in the aforementioned article, lThe removal of the negative vote count will gradually roll out on YouTube starting today.
This does not mean, yes, that the possibility of negatively evaluating a video disappears. The thumb pointing down will continue to be present, and we can continue to use it in the same way as before. The only difference is that we will stop seeing the number of negative votes for it. And although there are no indications in this regard, it should be understood that these votes will continue to have an effect when recommending or not certain videos, take note of our tastes to refine their recommendations, and so on. It would be very strange if YouTube stopped using this information.
Also, even if they are no longer visible to everyone, channel owners will maintain access, in the information of your videos in YouTube Studio, to the negative vote count of each of your videos.
And why will the negative vote counter stop showing? Because the test carried out earlier this year would have shown that small YouTube channels are frequently the target of hate campaigns or malicious pranksters who, in groups, access their videos to vote them negatively, thus distorting the perception that other users will have if they review its ratings.
I acknowledge that this YouTube measure gives me mixed feelings. And it is that on the one hand, as I have already told at the beginning, negative votes are, at least for me, an important element when choosing whether or not to watch a video, especially if it is from a channel that I still do not know. . On the other hand, however, it is undeniable that bad milk roams the Internet at ease, and that measures like this can serve to limit its effects a bit, which is undoubtedly something positive.
