The like/dislike buttons in 2019
Video ratings are how YouTube determines the audience reception of any one video, by calculating the amount of approval or disapproval the video has garnered.
The current rating system on YouTube videos consists of two buttons—the "like" button, represented by a thumbs up; and the "dislike" button, represented by a thumbs down. This can be used to help creators understand their audience by giving a quick overview of what their viewers think of their content.
It is speculated that likes/dislikes may also increase the exposure and amount of views of one's content in search engines by making it more visible, however this has never been confirmed by any YouTube insiders.[1] The number of likes on a video may also make potential viewers more willing to watch due to its popularity/reputation; in some cases this may also apply to highly disliked videos.
History[]
Origin[]
YouTube originally utilized a five-star system for rating videos. However, in March 2010, this was changed to the current like/dislike system as part of a major redesign of YouTube.
Hiding dislike counts[]
Due to concerns about dislikes causing "stress and embarrassment" for younger and lesser known creators, YouTube made an update on November 11, 2021, which hides the amount of dislikes a video has. Viewers can still click the dislike button to leave a dislike, but the dislike count will not be visible to anyone besides the creator of the video.
The decision received widespread backlash from the YouTube community, and even many who have worked at YouTube. YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim criticized the removal of dislike counts, even updating the description of "Me at the zoo" to voice his thoughts.[2]
Users quickly began to find methods to cheat the system and allow dislikes to be public again, but the API change following the removal has patched many of these services. However, one of the methods uses an extension called Return YouTube Dislike has converted to using other methods to attempt to present an estimated amount of dislikes.
Likes/dislike statistics[]
Currently, many of the most liked/disliked videos on YouTube are music videos from various celebrity singers. Others are from prominent YouTubers such as PewDiePie, whinderssonnunes and Logan Paul Vlogs.
Top 10 Most Liked YouTube Videos (As of June 19, 2019)[]
| Rank | Video | Creator/Artist | Likes (In Millions) | Like Percentage | Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Despacito | Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee | 33.63 | 89.22% | January 12, 2017 |
| 2. | See You Again | Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth | 24.27 | 96.85% | April 6, 2015 |
| 3. | Shape Of You | Ed Sheeran | 22.06 | 94.72% | January 30, 2017 |
| 4. | Faded | Alan Walker | 16.30 | 97.34% | December 3, 2015 |
| 5. | Gangnam Style | PSY | 15.94 | 87.85% | July 15, 2012 |
| 6. | Hello | Adele | 14.47 | 94.78% | October 22, 2015 |
| 7. | Girls Like You | Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B | 14.06 | 96.04% | May 31, 2018 |
| 8. | Uptown Funk | Mark Ronsan featuring Bruno Mars | 12.86 | 94.11% | November 19, 2014 |
| 9. | Alone | Marshmello | 12.34 | 96.89% | July 2, 2016 |
| 10. | Mi Gente | J Balvin & Willy William | 12.29 | 93.92% | June 29, 2017 |
Top 10 Most Liked Non Music Videos (As of June 19, 2019)[]
| Non Music Video Rank | Video | Creator | Likes (In Millions) | Like Percentage | Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Make This Video The Most Liked Video On YouTube | MrBeast | 9.44 | 98.56% | January 16, 2019 |
| 2. | YouTube Rewind 2018 but it's actually good | PewDiePie | 8.18 | 98.94 | December 27, 2018 |
| 3. | Masha and The Bear - Recipe for disaster (Episode 17) | Get Movies | 5.04 | 64.85% | January 31, 2012 |
| 4. | Ping Pong Trick Shots 3 | Dude Perfect | 4.88 | 97.66% | April 3, 2017 |
| 5. | Can this video get 1 million likes? | PewDiePie | 4.73 | 97.61% | December 10, 2016 |
| 6. | CRIANÇA DE RICO E CRIANÇA DE POBRE | whinderssonnunes | 4.70 | 99.07% | June 9, 2016 |
| 7. | THE RUBY PLAYBUTTON / YouTube 50 Mil Sub Reward Unbox | PewDiePie | 4.68 | 96.66% | December 18, 2016 |
| 8. | ANIVERSÁRIO DE RICO E ANIVERSÁRIO DE POBRE | whinderssonnunes | 4.38 | 99.21% | December 7, 2017 |
| 9. | IMITANDO FUNKEIROS | whinderssonnnunes | 4.23 | 98.39% | April 20, 2017 |
| 10. | YouTube Rewind: The Shape of 2017 | #YouTubeRewind | YouTube | 4.19 | 65.64% | December 6, 2017 |
Top 10 Disliked Videos (As of May 28, 2019)[]
| Rank | Video | Creator/Artist | Dislikes (In Millions) | Dislike Percentage | Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind | #YouTubeRewind | YouTube | 16.73 | 86.56% | December 6, 2018 |
| 2. | Justin Bieber - Baby ft. Ludacris (Official Music Video) | Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris | 10.49 | 47.95% | February 19, 2010 |
| 3. | Jake Paul - It's Everyday Bro (Song) feat. Team 10 (Official Music Video) | Jake Paul featuring Team 10 | 4.29 | 60.73% | May 30, 2017 |
| 4. | Can this video get 1 million dislikes? | PewDiePie | 4.07 | 94.01% | December 24, 2016 |
| 5. | Luis Fonsi - Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee | Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee | 3.99 | 10.77% | January 12, 2017 |
| 6. | Official Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare Reveal Trailer | Call Of Duty | 3.81 | 86.41% | May 2, 2016 |
| 7. | Rebecca Black - Friday | Rebecca Black | 3.48 | 78.61% | September 16, 2011 |
| 8. | tati | James Charles | 3.21 | 80.86% | May 10, 2019 |
| 9. | Bibi H - How it is ( wap bap ... ) [Official Video] | BibisBeautyPalace | 3.01 | 85.62% | May 5, 2017 |
| 10. | ‹ CORTANDO O BOTÃO DO YouTube › (‹ CUTTING THE YouTube BUTTON ›) | Aruan Felix | 2.55 | 74.85% | December 22, 2015 |
Top 10 Most Total Ratings (As of June 19, 2019)[]
| Rank | Video | Creator/Artist | Ratings (In Millions) | Like Percentage | Upload Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Luis Fonsi - Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee | Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee | 37.69 | 89.22% | January 12, 2017 |
| 2. | See You Again | Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth | 25.06 | 96.85% | April 6, 2015 |
| 3. | Justin Bieber - Baby ft. Ludacris (Official Music Video) | Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris | 22.16 | 52.25% | February 19, 2010 |
| 4. | Shape Of You | Ed Sheeran | 21.18 | 94.72% | January 30, 2017 |
| 5. | YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind | #YouTubeRewind | YouTube | 18.88 | 13.65% | December 6, 2018 |
| 6. | Gangnam Style | PSY | 18.15 | 87.85% | July 15, 2012 |
| 7. | Faded | Alan Walker | 16.75 | 97.34% | December 3, 2015 |
| 8. | Hello | Adele | 15.27 | 94.78% | October 22, 2015 |
| 9. | Girls Like You | Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B | 14.64 | 96.04% | May 31, 2018 |
| 10. | Uptown Funk | Mark Ronsan featuring Bruno Mars | 13.69 | 94.11% | November 19, 2014 |
Trivia[]
- There is a video called "Neutral Response", which, during the time it was uploaded, it had a normal like to dislike ratio, but over time, a group of people disliked that video to balance the like-to-dislike ratio so that there are as many likes and dislikes. To this day, people often try to maintain the balance of that like-to-dislike ratio, however it has recently been shifting towards likes due to the dislike count being hidden.