Last month, Google announced that YouTube would be removing the dislike count on videos, a change that has already taken effect and has been highly controversial among users.
For those who want to keep YouTube dislike counts alive a little bit longer, a neat browser extension makes that possible, at least for now.
YouTube's Dislike Extension
The new browser extension titled "Return YouTube Dislike" makes it possible for users on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and even iOS to restore the YouTube dislike count to their video watching experience. The extension has picked up thousand of positive reviews from users since its release.
When installed and active, the YouTube extension automatically changes the YouTube site to where it shows a dislike count as it did in the past.
Better yet, it also shows exact numbers instead of the general 10K when hovering over the like and dislike section, according to The Verge.
To download the extension, you can use this direct link or search for "Return YouTube Dislike" in the Chrome Web Store. Other platforms are available.
After installing the extension, there is no work needed. Just ensure it stays active and go to your favorite YouTube video to see it in action. The extension is of course free, but the developers are accepting donations.
So what is the catch? It just comes down to wondering how long this will last. The extension is currently using data from the YouTube API, which still shows up to date dislike counts to anyone using the API for public data.
However, that is set to change on Dec. 13, as Google previously confirmed that is the date this data will be cut off.
After that date, which is quickly approaching, the developers of this extension say they will use archived stats and user data from the extension to develop dislike counts. The extension is already using this scraped data to improve the visible dislike counts. As it stands today, data only updates once every few days.
The backend will switch to using a combination of archived dislike stats, estimates extrapolated from extension user data and estimates based on view/like ratios for videos whose dislikes weren't archived and for outdated dislike archives, according to 9to5Google.
Why YouTube Removed the Dislike Count
YouTube made the change to its platform last month, as it removed the public dislikes in order to counter harassment and promote respectful interactions between viewers and creators, according to NewsWeek.
But a lot of YouTube users and creators have criticized the decision, arguing that dislike counts give the community a way to express its preferences as well as quickly identify misleading and spam videos promoted b YouTube's own algorithm.
Jawed Karim, the third co-founder of YouTube, has condemned the platform's removal of public dislike counts on videos, suggesting that the change will lead to YouTube's decline.
Karim said that there is a reason behind removing the dislike count is not a good one and they have no plans of disclosing it to the public. He said that the ability to easily and quickly identify bad content is an important feature of a user-generated content platform because not all user-generated content is good.
Related Article : 'GTA 5' Next-Gen Trailers Are Being BOMBED by Dislikes
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
