YouTube is currently conducting a test that involves removing view counts and upload dates from users’ homepages upon loading. While this change is not yet widespread, initial reactions from users have varied, with comments ranging from “I don’t think this will help” to “downgrade of the century.”
The rationale behind this potential alteration remains unclear, but speculation indicates that it might be an attempt to make the user interface clearer or to entice users to interact with less well-liked content that hasn’t yet gone viral.
This trial follows a busy month for YouTube, which has seen several interface changes. While some modifications, like the redesigned miniplayer, have drawn praise, others, like the hidden “Skip Ads” option, have caused a playful argument between Google and Android Police.
The tech giant assured users to note that the button is not hidden but placed where it would not be as intrusive during times that customers are watching ads. Furthermore, recent changes affected the position of dislike/save buttons regarding YouTube Shorts and the appearance of hyperlinks in comments.
While some may deride these updates, the removal of view counts could help users diversify with the types of videos they watch instead of being sticky to those videos that receive many views. But perhaps they hide the upload dates for some reason: again, watching the channel regularly, YouTube users look for the freshest content.
However, the absence of dates that correspond to the video upload may make the users watch the videos that maybe old but are still informative. This of course depends on YouTube not changing its algorithm to reach a stage of featuring old videos way too much. While the proposed changes are being tested on this platform, their effect on the users’ activity is unknown.
