#YouTubeRewind is trash. No references to #ShaneDawson, “Black Panther”, “This Is America”, Pewdiepie vs T-Series. No Ariana, no 88rising, no Trisha for mukbang. And you shove in a cringey recreation of “Idol” without mentioning BTS’ name AFTER deleting views on that exact video?
— Riddhi Chakraborty 🏳️🌈 (@thisisridz) December 6, 2018
NOTE: For all latest, breaking news related to PewDiePie, other YouTubers, and Youtube in general, head here.
We knew it was going to happen, and now it’s official. YouTube Rewind 2018 has become the most disliked video on Google’s video sharing platform. With close to 11 million dislikes now, this year’s Rewind overtook Justin Bieber’s Baby, which was occupying the top spot for over 7 years now.
Baby was released in January of 2010 and it topped the most disliked YouTube video chart in June 2011. So it took that video well over a year to achieve the feat, but YouTube Rewind 2018 did it in less than a week – the video was released on December 06.
It won’t be wrong to say the amount of hate this year’s Rewind has received is unprecedented when it comes to Rewind videos in general. Following are some of the tweets that went out shortly after the video was outed:
YouTube Rewind is a rare beast where every year the budget gets bigger and bigger meanwhile the quality deteriorates to something akin to a dumpster fire.
— Brandon Calvillo (@BJCalvillo) December 7, 2018
#YouTubeRewind is trash. No references to #ShaneDawson, “Black Panther”, “This Is America”, Pewdiepie vs T-Series. No Ariana, no 88rising, no Trisha for mukbang. And you shove in a cringey recreation of “Idol” without mentioning BTS’ name AFTER deleting views on that exact video?
— Riddhi Chakraborty 🏳️🌈 (@thisisridz) December 6, 2018
Me trying to find a positive comment on #YouTubeRewind pic.twitter.com/A5jh7DT0OC
— Marcel (@BasicallyIDoWrk) December 7, 2018
Just 12 hours after premiering, YouTube Rewind 2018 is already one of the top 20 most-disliked videos in YouTube history
— shonkywonkydonkey (@Shonkywonkydonk) December 7, 2018
lol pic.twitter.com/AxiMC10Wbd
https://twitter.com/DrTahha/status/1070938482443354112
One of the biggest disappointments was the exclusion of impactful content creating channels like PewDiePie, which as you may already know, is the most subscribed channel on YouTube. The Swedish YouTuber was excluded from Rewind 2017 as well likely due to controversies and same could be the reason this year as well.
For those who are wondering why YouTube keeps controversial stuff away from its rewind videos, well this is due to the fact that these videos are aggressively used as marketing material aimed at courting large advertising deals.
Just like last year, PewDiePie offered his commentary on this year’s YouTube Rewind video as well, and I must say, it’s a good watch. He has touched on topics like K-pop/BTS, Bongo cat, and even spotted a reference to his own chair and channel. Watch it here.
Even Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) – who was in this year’s Rewind – shared their thoughts on Rewind 2018 and Rewind videos in general. He said the biggest problem with YouTube Rewind is the gap in expectation of content creators + viewers and what the company wants to show.
While the company prepares YouTube Rewind for advertisers, everybody else is left expecting for more as they see the recap video as a “celebration of YouTubers and the biggest/best stuff on the platform that year.”
MKBHD also shared how they shot for 12 hours only to see a 15 second scene in the final edit. They say YouTube tries to please everyone with the Rewind videos, and this is where the problem lies, because they clearly can’t.
The “problem” with YouTube Rewind is pretty simple, actually - the delta between what creators/audiences expect and what YouTube wants to show has never been more clear.
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) December 10, 2018
YouTube tries to blend the two ideas, which results in this cringey, chaotic, super PC video that leaves out a lot of the stuff creators love and advertisers don’t.
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) December 10, 2018
Pretty good read on everything by @verge: https://t.co/8gt88O46AS pic.twitter.com/D8xZIYsUie
We talked about how this Rewind would be different, and going from 300+ talents to around 100. But the edit is still overwhelming, and it ALWAYS looks like they're trying to please and include everyone. Which they clearly can't.
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) December 10, 2018
There are even rumors that those who rallied against Rewind 2018 took off a large amount of dislikes from Justin’s Baby so that this year’s Rewind video gets to the top in no time.
Justin Bieber's 'baby' video getting almost 300k dislikes taken off in one day due to people wanting #rewind2018 as the most disliked vid is the perfect example of how turning the hate onto another thing is the fastest way to clear hate. #Showerthoughts
— Tinto Jose Koikkara (@tjkdigital) December 12, 2018
After a few days of its release, complete Rewind 2018 video – users reported – started appearing as a YouTube ad, sometimes sans the Skip button (making it mandatory for the user to view it).
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