SALT LAKE CITY — YouTube’s own rewind video has become the most disliked video on its platform.
What’s going on: This year’s YouTube Rewind video didn’t sit well with the YouTube community, and now it has been voted down as the most disliked video on the platform, The Verge reports.
- The video has 10 million dislikes.
- The video overtakes the previous most-disliked video, Justin Bieber’s video for the song “Baby,” which has just under 10 million dislikes.
Context: Bieber’s video needed eight years to amass that many dislikes. YouTube Rewind needed eight days, according to The Verge.
What’s the problem?: The video depicts YouTube's broader creator community. But several of those YouTubers said the video doesn’t show the reality of YouTube stars.
- “I think the problem with YouTube Rewind, at least how I see it, is pretty simple actually,” Marques Brownlee said in a YouTube video. “YouTubers and creators and audiences see it as one thing, and YouTube, who’s in charge of making it, sees it as something completely different.”
- Others consider the video to be a big advertisement for YouTube’s top performing stars, Engadget reports.
But also: Justin Bieber fans jumped in on the fun, though, adding more dislikes to Rewind as a way to take the “most disliked video” title away from Bieber’s song, BBC News reports.
History: As The Verge notes, YouTube Rewind used to be a yearly video that showcased the highest of the platform. Now it seems to be drifting toward being a video representative of the narrative YouTube wants to show.
- “Rewind is the culmination of that feeling,” according to The Verge. “The community, which was once celebrated by YouTube, no longer feels included in the culture YouTube wants to promote. It’s unclear what the company will do going forward, but one thing’s for certain: YouTube Rewind is no longer a celebratory moment the community looks forward to.”