YouTube Shorts has a new look that removes distractions and dislikes

It's hard to believe it's already been more than five years since YouTube Shorts was first revealed, but the TikTok analogue has indeed been around for a half-decade. As the format grows up, YouTube is enhancing it with some quality-of-life upgrades. Shorts is getting some features that are borrowed from the long-form version of YouTube -- including the removal of the "dislike" button. YouTube's initial choice to hide dislikes proved controversial, but several sensible arguments informed the decision. Most importantly, YouTube claimed that the dislike button meant different things to different people. Female creators, for example, received a disproportionate number of thumbs down. And some people used the dislike to express their personal tastes, while others saved their demerits for videos with irrelevant information. Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

Last updated Jun 28, 2026 by ATDb automated enrichment