# Youtube eliminates dislike counter **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2021, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405 "2021-12-03T00:31:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tavaritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@tavaritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavaritz)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/41 "2021-12-04T06:31:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I guess I just know well enough that for anything political or otherwise controversial, you’re going to get a lot closer to that 50:50 ratio. But I almost never watch anything like that on YouTube, so I don’t consider it. I would have thought people would realize that the ratios in that case are naturally going to be less reliable, but I probably am too optimistic in that regard. You don’t look stand-up comedy on YouTube? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/42 "2021-12-04T06:50:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve always gotten a chuckle out of videos always getting at least a few token dislikes I accidentally disliked my own video. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/43 "2021-12-04T15:05:25Z")
Not a lot lately, but last year I did quite a lot. Nothing really very political or controversial, though. My ratings guideline works fine with stand-up, too, though, given the extremely subjective nature of comedy, you’re not going to find many examples of a 0-5% dislikes to likes, but most will huddle around 10%. Anything significantly more and, yes, the comedy is usually not appealing to me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/44 "2021-12-04T15:10:57Z")
It somewhat puts me in mind of the folks who apparently confuse 1 star with 5 stars. I’ll often enough see a glowing review of a product or service accompanied by a 1-star rating. It can make sense if you think of the star ratings as an ordinal or ranking, that is, interpreting 1-star as “first place” or “number 1” as opposed to 1 of 5 stars. I’m somewhat curious whether there are any cultures where rating something on a scale has the lower numbers mean “better” or “more positive.” ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/45 "2021-12-04T16:01:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m somewhat curious whether there are any cultures where rating something on a scale has the **lower numbers mean “better” or “more positive.”** Sure. In any kind of contest, the winner is “First place”. Next is “second place”, and on down to “Fifth place”. Horse races, any kind of race. In ranking things (like which state has the best education levels or best anything), the bestest is called “First place”. On this board and IRL, I’ve seen people confuse DEFCON 1 with DEFCON 5. Which is the highest alert level? DEFCON 1. People get that backwards a lot. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/46 "2021-12-04T16:09:46Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Sure. In any kind of contest, the winner is “First place”. Next is “second place”, and on down to “Fifth place”. Horse races, any kind of race. In ranking things (like which state has the best education levels or best anything), the bestest is called “First place”. Yes - I understood that, since I mentioned exactly that in my post. I mean like for web or survey ratings “on a scale of 1 to 10” or “on a scale of 1 to 5 how would you rate our service?” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/47 "2021-12-04T16:17:57Z")
YouTube probably eliminated “dislikes” for the same reason that Amazon got rid of “dislike” on product reviews (and later expunged comments on reviews altogether). Dealing with complaints and regulating disputes is an interference with the Prime Directive, which is making money. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/48 "2021-12-04T20:09:56Z")
One of the few reasons I like to read a few of the YouTube comments is when they joke about those few dislikes. “I see (small dislike number) people missed the “like” button”. On a Star Wars parody video: “The force was weak with the (small dislike number) who disliked”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/49 "2021-12-04T20:10:50Z")
Or “The XXX who disliked this are all YYY fans” or similar construction. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/50 "2021-12-04T23:08:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I guess I just know well enough that for anything political or otherwise controversial, you’re going to get a lot closer to that 50:50 ratio. If people watched random videos on youtube that might be true, but youtube’s algorithm is pretty good, and people organically will tend to find videos that are the sorts of things they like. Dislike count is generally dwarfed by like count, even for controversial topics. I’m sure I would have hit “Dislike” on an Alex Jones video (before he was kicked off), but I’ve never seen one, because why would I? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/51 "2021-12-05T14:20:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m somewhat curious whether there are any cultures where rating something on a scale has the lower numbers mean “better” or “more positive.” The German university grading system goes from 1 to 5, with one being best. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/52 "2021-12-05T14:36:55Z")
Oh, good example. I seem to recall my father, who is Polish, mentioning the same grading scale out there. Didn’t think of that one. I have a feeling that I may even have seen that scale used in the US, perhaps historically, but the last time I’ve seen numbers on report cards or progress reports (as in my kids in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten), the scale was 1-2-3, with 3 being the most advanced, or “complete.” So in the lower-number-is-lower-rating order. That said, grades here do work A, B, C, D so those are kind of also in low-to-high order (depending on how you look at it.) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/53 "2021-12-06T16:52:17Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m somewhat curious whether there are any cultures where rating something on a scale has the lower numbers mean “better” or “more positive.” Asian cultures, specifically Japanese and Chinese to name two. “Numbah one good, numbah ten very bad.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/54 "2021-12-07T00:18:39Z")
I enabled the extension that @BigT linked to near the top of the thread. Now I’ve run across a video where the number of dislikes is showing as **NAN** (“Not A Number,” I assume). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/55 "2021-12-07T00:25:09Z")
Interesting. Haven’t seen that yet. Hey @BigT, while you’re here, how does this extension work, if you now (since you seem to be knowledgable about coding?) Presumably the dislike counter is just turned off while the data is still accessible from the user end if you know where to look for it? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/56 "2021-12-07T00:34:25Z")
It’s a bit complicated. Right now, it is basically doing what you said. YouTube has a programming interface that other apps can use which can still check downvotes. This is because they are only gradually turning off displaying downvotes, making sure nothing breaks. Eventually, though, they will turn the API off. So what the extension does is load the data from YouTube and save it to its own servers. Eventually, when YouTube shuts off the API, the extension will try to keep track of downvotes vs. upvotes. Whether it will be able to do so is uncertain, and most people seem pessimistic. (Hence why I said I’m not sure how good it is.) If @Thudlow_Boink is getting “NaN” (which indeed stands for “Not A Number,” it’s possible that the API for downvotes is already being shut down, and the extension’s website has no data for that page. But it could also be a glitch. I’ve got it installed, and I’ve not noticed anything weird yet. But I definitely think that the better hope is that YouTube realizes how dumb this decision was when it boosts the hell out of the misinformation it was trying to prevent. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/57 "2021-12-14T23:28:24Z")
I hate it… Each channel has the option of getting rid of it, so if they’re OK with it, with does Google have to step in? I’m an observant person, which a big reason I go on YouTube, and it seems like every time they make a change, it’s for the worse. Just like Yahoo getting rid of their comment section… They got it back up, but I’m not using it anymore, and will stop using my yahoo e-mail to sign up for things so I can avoid that site altogether… Many of the stories are so shitty, I think I’m going to remove the icon right now from my toolbar. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405/58 "2021-12-15T23:45:04Z")
I have noticed a new update for the UserScript I mentioned. It seems to no longer be reading anything from YouTube. It might still be doing this on the backend. But it’s also possible this means that YouTube has finally shut down the API that allowed for reading downvotes, meaning the addon now relies on its own servers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youtube-eliminates-dislike-counter/955405.md?page=2)