PewDiePie slams YouTube for removing dislike count: "If it ain't broke, why fix it?"

YouTube has revealed that it will remove the number of dislikes on videos across its platform — but it’s most-subscribed creator, PewDiePie, isn’t a huge fan of this change.

After experimenting with hiding the number of dislikes on videos over the past few years, YouTube has officially rolled out a change removing dislike counts across the site.

Most notably, YouTube claimed this development was implemented to combat “dislike attacks” and harassment campaigns on its platform. Creators will still be able to view dislike counts on their own videos, and dislikes will still affect user recommendations.

This change has sparked a huge conversation across social media, with many viewers and content creators decrying the removal of dislike counts — PewDiePie being one of them.

To reduce targeted dislike attacks & their impact on creators (esp on smaller creators), you’ll no longer see a public dislike *count* on YouTube starting today (the dislike button is staying).

This comes after lots of research, testing & consideration → https://t.co/mJWDJSSRoG

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) November 10, 2021

PewDiePie boasts the most subscribers out of any independent content creator on YouTube, and is one of the site’s most-subscribed channels overall. The influencer posted his reaction to YouTube’s latest update on November 11, arguing both sides of the issue, but ultimately finding the change unnecessary.

PewDiePie explains why removing dislike counts could be a “good” thing

At first, PewDiePie played “devil’s advocate” to the site’s new fixture.

The YouTuber claimed that he isn’t a fan of random dislikes on arguably “wholesome” content, like charity drives and other positive videos. “Some videos are so nice that no one should be allowed to dislike it!” he argued.

He went on to compare YouTube’s lack of a dislike count to other platforms that don’t have a dislike button at all, such as TikTok and Instagram — but noted that, on these sites, one can just scroll away from content they don’t like. The situation on YouTube is markedly different, PewDiePie claimed.

PewDiePie argues against YouTube removing dislike counts

“On YouTube, it’s an indication of if it’s a good video or not,” he explained. “If you’re looking up a tutorial video and it has 20% or more dislikes, I’m not gonna watch that video. I know it’s a bad tutorial.”

On the topic of protecting creators from “dislike attacks,” Pewds found that he had “never seen that.”

“Usually, when that happens, it’s when someone’s getting canceled, right?” he mused. “That function already exists. If you’re getting targeted by a ton of dislikes, remove the dislike bar. They’re fixing a problem that already didn’t need to be fixed.”

The creator went on to argue the functionality of the site’s dislike button, claiming that users can curate content across the platform by signaling content that isn’t good.

“I’m willing to admit, I don’t know what the outcome is gonna be, so there’s no point in really getting pissed off about it,” he concluded. “It remains to be seen, but it’s kind of like, well, if it ain’t broke, why fix it, right?”

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