In my mundane internet search I came upon this news months back. There was an attempt to justify the move but it just wasn’t believable enough for me anyway (it starts on 1:40). I’ve read multiple arguments against the changes and I can get behind why the hate for these changes.
It’s possible to get a barrage of dislikes on a video due to trolling but bad content generally would get that negative rep anyway. Good content inherently has a positive vibe that attracts people to appreciate it and drop a like and subscribe. This whole trolling the dislikes counter initiative is just a passing event, it may not even be actual trolls doing it but real people that just organically happen to reach a consensus they don't like what's being put out. If you happen to notice some of the largest Youtube channels before the change, receiving 50k thumbs down button is bad but when you place those numbers with a 450k thumbs up, it ain’t really that bad.
This only benefits the bigger corporations trying to sell their brands. If their public image across different social media platforms get a negative reputation, this also limits their opportunities for growth. Those social media managers and public relations officer are quick to delete a negative comment mistaking criticism for trolling. In centralized platforms where image can be regulated, there’s just little room for transparency with stringent damage control measures are in place.
People are going to get curious why a video is taking some hate and this further encourages more attention. It’s ok if it’s just some random small creator but not so if you got a business image to sell.
Dislikes, thumbs down and downvotes are still forms of expression. Just as you are free to do the opposite of these in support of what you like as your freedom so should these negative options be an extension of that speech.
Good content will inherently find its way to get appreciated but this wouldn’t happen if the creator cries over the smallest expression of discontent for their work and quit early.
I find the emotional stress of getting your content bombarded with dislikes cited as one of the reasons for the change. Is it really weird that somewhere out there from some other part of the world can genuinely dislike what you put out even when you did you best efforts to make it presentable? Absolutely unthinkable that such people can exist but welcome to the real world. Creators can still see the dislikes on their engagement analytics page so there goes the ability of the change to relieve “emotional stress” to creators.
As an avid consumer of tutorial type of content, the dislike function was one of my indicators whether the video was worth my time. I can’t emphasize enough how much those medical video tutorials made by Indians save my grades during grad school. The dislike counter spared me several hours navigating which creator can do it better + their comment section. And how could I forget those helpful tech tutorials whenever my phone or laptop malfunctions.
The dislike count is a form of engagement because someone went out of their way just to tell you they don’t like you and that’s a good indicator that at least there’s someone out there that paid attention to your stuff. I wouldn’t personally see dislikes, thumbs down, or downvotes as an attack but it’s a call to improve on something to do better. If you get a lot of negative attention, it’s probably time to reevaluate what you’re doing. The same thing can be said for getting a lack of engagement from your content.
You also need to consider that not everything reflected by the numbers are organic. There are bots that do thumbs up on videos to artificially fake engagement in all social media platforms because these affect the algorithms for visibility. Sounds like Hive isn’t the only one that have pseudo patrons right?
Here’s what content creators need to hear:
In the spirit of making content, it can’t be helped that there are too few people in the world that can appreciate your genius from what you share. I’m going to share an inspirational post made by one of the best this blockchain has to offer, @dandays displays the power of what modern poetry meets red pill here:
“I've been consuming very little content lately that requires electricity to access if you must know but you know who else does not consume your content? +/- 7 billion people. That's how many they've been saying occupy this planet ever since I landed. I don't know about your content views but let's assume they double mine. 200, fair enough? That means 6,999,999,800 people do not consume your content and you swung at me.”
And like a figurative mic drop those lines just resonated with me in my journey to just do your own thing and love what you do. There will be upvotes, downvotes, and apathy but whatever happens, just love what you do because no one else can do it better than you.
Because this is the kind of inconvenient truth people need to drill inside their heads if they are getting into a zone where they convinced themselves that their post payout is equal to the value they’re sharing or that their stuff is all that. I do hope @dandays doesn’t make a rant post tearing up my message after I repurposed the lines. His lines have weight, it’s true, honest, pure, and I’m running out of positive adjectives to describe how it’s frank and awesome at the same time.
The stuff I post about may get autoupvotes, organic upvotes, downvotes, ignored, discussed and shared but those are all just part of risk and rewards for sharing content people may find worthwhile to engage with. I like what I post about and put some considerable effort into each but I’ll never hold it against anyone that they didn’t care to notice my stuff. Why?
Because to each their own.
Just as other creators have to win your attention and interest over to be invested in their stuff, so do you have to hustle when you’re also showcasing your stuff.
And you can make all the right moves to make your stuff presentable but there's always going to be someone out there that's really not into what you do. Even more people to not appreciate you when you publish it on a global stage.
If you made it this far reading, thank you for your time.