I Am Against YouTube's Dislike Button.

[Honorable Hero]

Personally I feel if you dislike someone's video, you should just close it. That's what I do. I either like a video, or do nothing. Only if I find the the video highly offensive will I dislike it. My reasoning is usually people put a lot of work into their videos. Even if I don't like a video, I don't want to help in putting a negative mark on someone's creation, because it's obviously important to them.

Also, I won't comment negatively unless it's constructive criticism. I just find no need to spread any kind of negativity.

 

[Sydney]

Personally, I believe the dislike button on Youtube is completely necessary. It's a way of telling somebody that what they've posted, you didn't like. It's a good method of providing feedback than simply commenting what you liked or disliked about a video, considering not all comments are always seen by the uploader (especially if the video is popular).

 

[Heroine of Time]

While I'm not necessarily against the dislike button, I must agree that it is kind of unfair to people who may have worked hard on their videos. I very rarely ever use the dislike button, unless, as you stated, the video is offensive. Most of the time, I just see it used by trolls. For instance, I have YouTube videos where I've gotten very few negative comments, and yet there are many dislikes.

Atticus, I highly doubt that most of the people disliking videos actually planned on leaving feedback. XD

 

[TheRizardon]

I think it's necessary I rarely use it though only if like Heroine said if it's offensive other then that I don't dislike the video just tell them what they could approve on if you don't like it or say why you don't like it so it would be justified.

 

[Hero of Time]

I think the like/dislike system on YouTube is present primarily to show someone who's browsing whether or not it is a quality video. If you're searching for a video and there are dozens of results, it's nice to know which video is generally accepted as the best one on that topic. Albeit you can still do this by checking the videos' views, but that's not the same; a video having a plethora of views doesn't make it a good video. Of course, not everyone's opinions will be the same as yours in regards to the like/dislike system, but it is more accurate than any other measure of video quality.

Honestly, I don't see why criticism is such a bad thing - especially criticism that is a simple press of a button and not harmful words as there could be in a comment. Though I suppose, if enough YouTube users protested for this, there could be a function added wherein you could disable likes and dislikes, just as you can disable comments on a specific video. This would solve any potential problems with users not wanting dislikes; I don't think completely removing the like/dislike system is the most reasonable solution.

 

[Azure Sage]

I want to agree with you, but I do find some good purposes for it. I rarely ever use it for videos, though. In fact, I rarely use the Like button. If I don't like something, I just move on. However, the Dislike button is necessary for comments. If a comment receives too many negative votes, it gets hidden unless you click it. I've found that to be a good thing, considering whenever I click to show what had been said, it's always something incredibly trollish. I remember clicking to reveal a comment that had been hidden from too many dislikes, and it was a comment that was blatantly spoiling important scenes from an anime for the sake of trolling. I thank god that I'd already read past the parts he spoiled, but even so, it being hidden from view is for the good of youtubers who don't want to see stuff like that. That's where I find necessity in the Dislike feature.

 

[Ventus]

Dislike button on videos? Completely pointless in my opinion. Don't like? Get out.
Dislike button comments? Completely necessary in my opinion. There are several reasons a comment can be thumbed down. While I'm against thumbing down for comments that have to do with spoilers, probably to Azure's chagrin, I AM against comments that do nothing but flame other users. Now, I don't claim to never have flamed or that I stopped or whatever. Sometimes I still flame other users. But ultimately

 

[Majora's Cat]

Like the OP noted, sometimes a video contains offensive content and that is reason enough to dislike it. It alerts other YouTube users that the video has received negative feedback that might make them think twice before watching it. But not everyone has the time to sift through the comments to formulate an understanding of how the video is received, and I think the idea of liking and disliking was to be of convenience to viewing audiences. The dislike button can certainly be abused by users, but YouTube users should be able to express their opinions on the video.

The like/dislike system is a quick and efficient way to do so. In the end, opinions can be positive, negative or anything in between. Limiting the ability to express opinions by getting rid of the dislike button is unfair to the users. Also, if you've seen comments on YouTube, they hardly give constructive criticism of the video itself. It's mostly just arguing or degrading other users who commented. People have the freedom to dislike things, and I don't think it makes much sense to make them criticize the video in the comments, because such comments can be more hurtful than an anonymous dislike.

 

[Leela]

Oh but then how so ,will I know a video is really bad, I would have to waste even more time of my life.

 

[Johnny Sooshi]

To me, the like system on something means nothing till I've seen it myself. I may like it even though the majority of others dislike it. Or I may dislike it even if most others like it.

Rarely do I use the dislike button though. I only use it in extreme cases, like when I found the slanderous video where someone took a Slipknot music video and overlayed the Barbie song. Never will I forgive the user.

As far as comments go, I never, or seldom, post hateful comments against other people. I go on YouTube sometimes to find compilations of music from the genre I like. Often there will be people who express their opinions and I express mine. However when I do I don't say, "Well those guys suck and these guys are better," I say, "I don't like those guys cause of this, this, and this, and I like these guys more cause of this, this, and this." All in all, I keep it nice and I respect the other users opinions. I have gone back against haters who don't understand what an opinion is, but usually I don't because it always ends in an "F you, you're stupid" type of comment from them, which shows me that they're really not that smart.

 

[Omega Fury]

I am against the dislike button too. Why? because i find a lot of videos with a lot of dislikes and a top comment that says "Nice lightstaber" cause the video had a lot of dislikes.

 

[Ninten*]

The dislike button on videos are meant for critisism. But I can guarantee you that there's no way that everyone who watches a video would like it. The 5 star thing works better for it.

For comments, that's completley necessary. If some random person is trolling with comments, then that's were the dislike button kicks in. But only for comments.

 

[Dragoncat]

Ack, youtube trolls...yes, the dislike button is cruel.

 

[Cel-Shaded Deku]

If you don't have a dislike button to accompany a like button you can't gauge audience reaction as accurately. I would prefer the star rating system because not everyone's reaction is just like or dislike. Someone working hard on a video doesn't actually mean much, if anything. A bad video is still bad even when the creator put effort in it and a good video can happen without much work at all. Lastly, if you don't tell someone that they're doing something wrong they'll keep doing it. If you could only get positive feedback you would not know that your audience is dissatisfied. Removing the dislike button would not cause this problem but it makes identifying audience reaction much easier.

 

[ShadowDiety]

I can't say I really dislike it. That, and the top comments have saved me from a lot of screamers.