From the White-PillBox: Part 10
Liking the Dislike
Not all White Pills are grand and far-reaching. This one is probably more modest than others but is still a solid White Pill. And like many others, on the surface it appears as a Black Pill.
Recently YouTube (Google) removed the count of video Dislike’s from public view. Users can still click the Dislike (thumbs-down) icon of a video, but cannot see the number of Dislikes the video received. The purported reasons provided by Google was to curtail attempts to artificially drive that count higher, and to decrease online “bullying”.
It is far more likely that the decision was part of a decade-long trend. The large corporate social media platforms have increasingly interfered with the free flow of information. Facts, opinions and causes that they consider permissible have been emphasized and promoted; contrary views have been de-emphasized or censored; many providers have been banned outright.
As we know, corporate social media is highly favorable toward the State and Statist causes. Interestingly, YouTube videos favorable to the State were often logging Dislike counts astronomically higher than Likes. It is not a stretch to say that hiding these negative counts from the public is preferable for YouTube.
A similar dynamic holds true for liberty-oriented videos. Negative counts tended to be remarkably low compared to positive counts. The wide difference between positive and negative reactions was great publicity for the ideas presented; but the low negative counts are now invisible.
The effect on content providers
It is true that content providers (for now) will still have access to their negative counts. But no one else will…and that includes providers of similar content. So, when others are creating similar-content videos, they will lack a key piece of information about what the public favors. This stifles competition and reduces quality over time.
The effect on users
Think about “star ratings”. We tend to skip one- or two-star rated businesses or products. This helps us efficiently navigate the enormous volume of information at hand. By removing the negative metric of Dislikes, YouTube makes the video consumption experience more difficult.
The White Pill
Happily, YouTube does not seem concerned about the disservice it does to itself in suppressing Dislike metrics. Many users rely on positive and negative ratings. By interfering with their ease of navigation, YouTube gives users another reason to seek alternative platforms. And this drives content providers away as well.
Moreover, this example of suppression affects virtually everyone, and in an obvious and conspicuous way. This is reputational self-damage: YouTube’s (and Google’s) future decisions are that much more suspect to the public. They have essentially added a decently-sized nail to their own coffin.
Conclusion
The faster corporate tech self-detonates, the better. They are, after all, key propagandists for the State. Let us hope they continue to promote cult-like favoritism to the State and blatant censorship of alternative views. As their legitimacy is questioned – and as they are tossed aside as useless by the public – the State will lose legitimacy in kind.
There’s nothing to dislike about that.