You might have already noticed that YouTube has gotten rid of the number of dislikes a video receives, but kept the number of likes. But if getting rid of that feature really is bothering you, there is a way to bring it back. You’d just need to download a browser extension.
In April, YouTube announced getting rid of dislikes to “protect the mental health of creators“. For example, viral YouTube videos like Justin Bieber’s “Baby” music video or Rebecca Black’s “Friday” received millions of dislikes since their debut. The dislikes added to the cyberbullying the creators and artists would receive, which could affect their mental health.
However, the issue of getting rid of the feature caused quite a controversy. A reader in our previous article pointed out that dislikes are “a great way to signal quality or lack thereof”. But I could argue that the number of likes, which are still kept in, could just as well determine the quality of a video. Still, seeing the number of dislikes outweighing the number of likes could be a faster indication of knowing whether a video you’re watching is worth your time.
Return YouTube Dislike, the browser extension, makes it possible for users on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and other platforms to restore the dislike count. When installed and active, the extension automatically changes YouTube’s site to where it shows a dislike count like it did previously. And to one-up the original feature, it also shows exact numbers instead of the general “10k” when hovering over the like/dislike section.
The extension has since picked up thousands of positive reviews from users. A reviewer wrote that they hope Youtube “does something reasonable and brings back a core feature like dislikes”.
While the browser extension is a great alternative for users who missed the feature, it might not work beyond 13 December. The extension is currently using data from the YouTube API, but Google previously confirmed their dislikes data will be cut off by then. The live number doesn’t show up right away, either—as the data only updates once every few days.
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