YouTube’s official look back at 2018 is now the most disliked YouTube video of all time. And all it took was one week to hit that milestone.
YouTube Rewind 2018 officially premiered on the site on December 6. We reported just two days ago that at 7.7 million dislikes, or “thumbs down” votes, this year’s Rewind had officially become the second most disliked video on YouTube.
Since then, the video has racked up a total of 10.3 million dislikes, surpassing the previous most disliked video, Justin Bieber’s “Baby,” to become the most disliked YouTube video ever.
To put things into perspective, Justin Bieber’s “Baby” video premiered on YouTube in February 2010. It took more than 8 years for Bieber’s music video to amass 9.8 million dislikes, a click on the thumbs down icon signaling a viewer’s distaste for a video. YouTube Rewind 2018 took about 8 days to surpass that number.
Bieber’s “Baby” long held the crown for most disliked video. But even though it’s carried that title since 2011, the video actually has more likes than dislikes. On this year’s YouTube rewind video, however, dislikes make up over 80 percent of the like-to-dislike amount. Only about two million users have signaled that they like the video.
Every year since 2010, YouTube has put together an official year in review video, an overview of the year’s most popular videos, moments, and creators. For many YouTube stars, the annual video functioned as an ode to the content creators who contributed most to the community that year. YouTube Rewind 2018 failed at doing that, according to many of the platform’s top creators.
One of the major issues with this year’s YouTube Rewind, according to prominent members of the YouTube community, is that some of the platform’s biggest stars, like PewDiePie, Shane Dawson, and Logan Paul are completely omitted from the video. Huge YouTube moments, like the popular livestreamed boxing match between Paul and KSI this past August, were also ignored.
But the crux of the matter goes beyond just individual YouTubers being left out of the company’s year in review. Popular YouTube creator Marques Brownlee, who was featured in this year’s YouTube Rewind, explained in a video of his own how there’s now a major disparity in how the YouTube community views Rewind and how YouTube the company views Rewind.
It basically boils down to advertising, as Brownlee points out. This year’s Rewind opted to boast about mainstream celebrities using the platform and traditional media outlets referencing YouTube memes as opposed to the controversial, and less advertiser-friendly, creators and moments that the YouTube community actually engages with.
By disliking the video more than any other on the entire platform, the YouTube community is sending a clear message to the company concerning the content they care about. In a way, YouTube Rewind 2018 becoming the most disliked video of all time is a YouTube Rewind moment all of its own.
