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YouTube tests removing view counts and upload dates from videos

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Wrexis

Wrexis

Member
Nov 4, 2017
25,345
It's important to note some of these YouTube trials go nowhere. But...

www.tomsguide.com

YouTube tests removing viewer counts — here’s what we know

This would be a massive change
www.tomsguide.com www.tomsguide.com

Currently, when looking at the YouTube home page, you can see the creator's name, the overall viewer count and the date it was published. However, the shared image completely removes the latter two, with only the creator's name appearing underneath each video. It's worth noting that there is no mention of whether the details will be viewable while the video is playing, so you might still be able to check when the video was released and how many likes it has.
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hmKz9wwXtemvNvF5tTCLsh-1200-80.jpg.webp


I can see why they're testing this, though I disagree with removing it.

If it has low view counts maybe some people think it's not worth watching.
Also some people may think, if a video is 15 years old, is it worth watching, really?
 
WaveBird

WaveBird

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,937
I would rather lose the view count then the date uploaded. Date uploaded gives me so much information up front if I'm looking for any kind of help that could have new information. Sigh. The article mentions they don't know if it will be viewable on the page itself. Hopefully it stays there at the very least.
 
Dice

Dice

Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,351
Canada
Um, dates are important. It should at LEAST list a year.

I'd hate to lose the youtube view count, but I honestly bet it would help a lot of creators.
 
nsilvias

nsilvias

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,978
fuck off. thats useful data. youtube has gotten much less useful as theyve removed basic shit.
 
C.Mongler

C.Mongler

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
4,034
Washington, DC
I hate the idea of removing dates. It's often important contextual information to earmark if timely information you're interested in will be in the video or not. For example, I want to watch reactions to the latest Nintendo Direct, a video titled "We React to the Latest Direct" won't tell me if it's the newest Direct, or if it's likely an older one (this is a dumb example but you get what I mean lmao)
 
GulAtiCa

GulAtiCa

Community Resettler
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
8,308
View count can be important, but i could see an argument for not showing it.

But removing the date is horrible.
 
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
31,474
These UI designers at YT really thinking "How can we make YT worse today?" every day.
 
Saganator

Saganator

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,109
I use upload dates a lot when looking up information/guides on games I'm playing, these days with early access and constant updates, information posted a year ago could be inaccurate

I hate how they keep removing features that allow me to watch what I want. Years ago there used to be a way to filter recommendations by length of video, I miss that so much. Sometimes I only have 10 minutes, let me filter out 30+ minute videos god damnit (I know this is possible with search, but I can't find way for recommendations)
 
Tan

Tan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
511
Would this be to present people with older videos and disguise them as new ones
 
The Quentulated Mox

The Quentulated Mox

Corrupted by Vengeance
Member
Jun 10, 2022
5,825
man, my algorithm is so fucked these days, i have to keep ignoring stream clips from people i've never heard of with like triple-digit views, those view numbers are really helpful for knowing what's ignorable
 

Ashhong

Member
Oct 26, 2017
17,630
On the home page is whatever. But there's no way they remove upload date from the actual video page right??
 
Tagyhag

Tagyhag

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,839
All Youtubers are gonna do is put the date on the title, so fucking stupid lol.

I get it's a trial but, you'd think such an obviously moronic idea wouldn't even have left the discussion table.
 
OP
OP
Wrexis

Wrexis

Member
Nov 4, 2017
25,345
Tagyhag said:
All Youtubers are gonna do is put the date on the title, so fucking stupid lol.

I get it's a trial but, you'd think such an obviously moronic idea wouldn't even have left the discussion table.
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You could say the same thing for Likes a few years back :/

Tan said:
Would this be to present people with older videos and disguise them as new ones
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I think so. Some people are biased against older video even if it's in 1080p.
 
Coyote Starrk

Coyote Starrk

The Fallen
Oct 30, 2017
57,813
Both of those things are vitally important. What the fuck?


I need to know the dates for guides and reviews.
 
Layell

Layell

One Winged Slayer
Member
Apr 16, 2018
2,094
Ah yes the Xitter method of fucking everything up and removing stuff
 
Aiqops

Aiqops

Member
Aug 3, 2021
17,134
Stop stealing all the useful options and data from us. Enough with enshittification.
 

Ring Dings and Pepsi

Member
Jan 23, 2024
895
I'm sure it's some misguided attempt to keep older YouTube content "evergreen" because they probably have data showing people are far less likely to click on a video if it's older than 6 months or something (maybe even sooner).

At the end of the day, though, it's probably information people would like to have and it's not like obfuscating it from people is suddenly going to result in a better user experience.
 
Ravelle

Ravelle

Member
Oct 31, 2017
18,975
This sucks, with the amount of video's on my subscription page I always scroll down a bit to catch up on things I missed, seeing the date is essential to catch up on stuff the the before or if you missed something.
 
Mister Ursine

Mister Ursine

Member
Sep 10, 2023
1,856
I sorta get the argument for "hiding" view counts and letting that just be a creator viewable metric. People might be more willing to try other videos rather than just gravitating towards the already popular ones.

The date is important information for context. Leave it.
 
Saganator

Saganator

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,109
Tagyhag said:
All Youtubers are gonna do is put the date on the title, so fucking stupid lol.

I get it's a trial but, you'd think such an obviously moronic idea wouldn't even have left the discussion table.
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There's gotta be no other reason other than to make people more beholden to their all mighty algorithm
 
Aiqops

Aiqops

Member
Aug 3, 2021
17,134
Their ultimate dream is no view, date counts and no comments. Just video like on every other streaming service. I guarantee you that.
 
grendelrt

grendelrt

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,627
Dates are literally the most important filter I use. I am always looking up technical information and I dont want something from 5 years ago when it was updated a month ago.
 
LLCoolDrew

LLCoolDrew

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,133
If this is limited to the home page, this does not strike me as a huge deal. And I use my home page somewhat frequently. Removing the date from search results would not be great, though, and scrubbing it from the video pages themselves would be awful.
 
Mass Effect

Mass Effect

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 31, 2017
17,961
Can't wait to search for tutorial videos and have no clue how well-known they are, old they are, or if they're any good.

Let's get rid of preview thumbnails and titles while we're at it. Just make everything blank black tiles so we have to guess what we even click on.
 
MZZ

MZZ

Member
Nov 2, 2017
4,973
Finally remove the damn upload date.

I am sick of reacting "what do you mean this video is X years old"

But seriously, those two things are useful. The viewcount more on things like guides to see how many are encountering the same issue.

But I kinda get it, its more used as a popularity meter and does affect if one views a video.

The upload date is just a thing you want to know. I didn't know people avoid older videos though.
 
DongBeetle

DongBeetle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,905
If I look at traveling videos, I only look at post 2020 because I can't do anything that closed after Covid so why would I wanna see it?
 
happy2501

happy2501

Member
Jan 12, 2024
1,101
WaveBird said:
I would rather lose the view count then the date uploaded. Date uploaded gives me so much information up front if I'm looking for any kind of help that could have new information. Sigh. The article mentions they don't know if it will be viewable on the page itself. Hopefully it stays there at the very least.
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tbf just losing upload time from main page is also huge huge loss. Similar to that i do care about views especially when i need to learn sth (fixing doors etc.)

removing dislike was frustrating as well.
 
MoonlitSeer

MoonlitSeer

Fallen Guardian
Member
Jun 9, 2023
1,532
Removing dates is an absolutely ridiculous idea. That's some of the most important contextual information for any kind of archiving/research-related work.
 
Garp TXB

Garp TXB

Member
Apr 1, 2020
7,048
Total chaos without view count at least. But maybe it would give smaller channels a chance? I don't know
 
Qikz

Qikz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,195
Can't wait for them to remove the dates so every video is completely nonsensical as nobody has put descriptive titles on anything forever as if you don't clickbait you don't get clicks /s (although I do hope this leads to more descriptive titles again). God knows what old trash YouTube is going to start pumping people towards.
 
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