YouTube experiments with the ‘hiding dislikes’ feature to protect creators’ well-being

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YouTube has announced it’s experimenting with hiding dislikes to discourage “dislike mobs” from deliberately down voting videos from creators and channels. In the current setup, stats for both likes and dislikes are viewable in a creator’s individual YouTube Studio page, but only likes will be displayed publicly on a video. In a support article explaining the test, YouTube says that dislikes can negatively impact a creator’s well-being and “may motivate a targeted campaign of dislikes on a creator’s video.” Basically, the idea is that seeing a dislike number and watching it go up could be enough motivation to join in and make the number larger. Creators rely on likes and dislikes as a form of feedback to guide their creative output. When YouTube first announced it was looking into addressing problems with dislikes, it was considering three ideas: hiding the numbers for both likes and dislikes, adding more friction to disliking something through requiring extra interaction, or removing likes and dislikes entirely. This test does half of what the first option promised, and it makes a certain amount of sense.


Google is making some big upgrades to directions in Google Maps

Google is announcing a bunch of new features planned for Google Maps, including a new tool to help with indoor navigation and suggestions for eco-friendly driving routes. The features announced aren’t rolling out all at once, though; many aren’t available just yet. One of the biggest announcements is that Google is bringing its Live View augmented reality directions to airports, transit stations, and malls. Live View directions let you hold your phone up, point your camera at the world around you, and see arrows and icons pointing you where you need to go, and previously, they only worked outdoors. Google is also planning to revamp the interface for picking your mode of transportation for directions on Android and iOS. Right now, you have to toggle through different tabs to see details about different transportation options, but with this new interface, you’ll just scroll through a list. This new interface is set to roll out globally in the coming months. In addition to the directions interface, Google is adding a new type of driving route that’s optimised for lower fuel consumption. It also plans to launch the weather layer globally and launch the air quality layer first in the US.

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