YouTube users have a love-hate relationship with the platform’s short-form video content. While many appreciate the convenience of discovering new content and creators worth checking out through bite-sized clips, many also advocate for Shorts to be moved to a standalone app.
Currently, though, even for those that have fully embraced Shorts, a UI change is making it much harder to express the ‘hate’ part of the relationship.
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YouTube Shorts’ UI is a simple one. All important tools stick to the right-aligned bar, while the less-important ones are stashed away in a three-dot overflow menu.
Currently, the UI highlights the like button right at the top, followed by the dislike button, comments, share, remix, and then the channel’s icon. For some users, though, the dislike button is not appearing where it should.
Turning a one-tap workflow into a two-tap one
Many are perplexed by the dislike button’s sudden disappearance, with many believing that it had been “totally removed.” That, however, isn’t the case. The dislike button is still there — it has just been moved.
YouTube confirmed the change in a new support post, indicating that what once used to be a one-tap icon on the right has now been relegated to the three-dot overflow menu. To dislike a video, you must now:
- Tap the three-dot menu on the top right.
- Locate Dislike and tap on it.
Additionally, the tech giant also added that considering users use Shorts’ dislike and ‘Not interested’ buttons interchangeably, it is merging the two buttons. “This means some viewers will see the “thumbs down” icon titled as “Dislike” and others will see it titled as “Not Interested.” All viewers in the experiment who click “thumbs down” on a Short will receive an optional feedback survey, similar to how “Not Interested” works today,” worte the tech giant.
It’s worth noting that this appears to be a test, and not a platform-wide rollout. I, for instance, still have the dislike button within the main right-aligned sidebar on both Android and iOS on several accounts. However, that is not to say that the change isn’t appearing for many users.
This adds unnecessary friction for users trying to leave negative feedback, friction that’s sure to make Shorts users unhappy. It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time YouTube has experimented with relocating the dislike button. The platform nested the thumbs down icon within the overflow menu last year as well, though that didn’t really stick. If it sticks this time around remains to be seen.
