Recently, rumors surfaced that MrBeast’s latest video received over a million dislikes within 20 hours. However, MrBeast’s team has provided screenshots showing a like rate of 99.1%, which is significantly higher than the channel’s average of 98.2%. This evidence likely strongly suggests that the claims about the dislikes are exaggerated or inaccurate.
Understanding YouTube likes and dislikes
We do need to understand the figures with regard to dislike circulating in internet are not official from YouTube but these are rather coming from an extension/module. YouTube had disabled the visibility of dislike count from public screen for several years now. As such, the dislike count here is fueled by data from the “Return YouTube Dislike” extension. According to their FAQ on GitHub, the extension combines Google APIs and scraped data to estimate dislike counts. However, these counts are cached and updated infrequently, about once every 2-3 days. This means that real-time accuracy can be questionable, and the extension uses extrapolated data from its users to estimate dislikes, which might not reflect the actual numbers accurately.
Less than 0.1% of the users likely have these extensions in use. The number just gives a rough average of percentage of people with the extension installed that disliked the video instead of the actual overall number. This is demonstrated by the formula they use to calculate the numbers:
The formula takes into account the total number of dislikes posted by RYD (return youtube dislike) users and after dividing it against users who liked it using RYD – the outcome is multiplied with publicly available like count to state the number of dislike count the video has.
With this, the question might be, how much dislike does the video actually have? The answer to which is not one we can answer from outside (nor can anyone else). This is only visible with the ones having analytics to MrBeast YouTube channel and per them – that currently stands at 0.9% of the total reactions (likes & dislikes). However, as the video ages, the percentage might change as well.
Record-breaking viewership
In the midst of this controversy, what we can however view publicly is MrBeast’s video has set a new record for the highest number of views within the first 20 hours on his channel, surpassing 61 million views. This indicates that despite the negative buzz, the video has not suffered in terms of viewership. In fact, it has attracted more attention than any of his previous content, highlighting his continued popularity.
The video is not low on likes count either with it getting 2.9M likes (which are public records from YouTube) against 61.1 million views. Comparing that against his previous video it had 213M views and 8.2M likes (in it’s total duration as of now). This converts to ~3.85% of the total viewers reacting and hitting like button on the video. His current number of 2.9M likes for 61.1M views converts to higher like ratio at ~4.75% of the total viewers. This does somewhat support MrBeast team’s screenshot from YouTube analytics showing more like percentage versus his channel average – signaling towards increased support from his viewers towards the channel and video.
Cancel culture and quick judgments
The quick spread of negative rumors points to a broader issue of cancel culture, where public figures are often subject to harsh criticism and rapid judgments. This phenomenon can amplify minor controversies and create false narratives, as seen with the supposed dislike bomb on MrBeast’s video.
Cancel culture is harmful because it encourages mob mentality and stifles open dialogue. Public figures, like MrBeast, can find themselves at the center of controversy based on unverified information, which can quickly spread through social media. This environment discourages individuals from making mistakes, learning, and growing because the fear of being “canceled” can lead to self-censorship and stifled creativity.
The spread of false narratives, like the exaggerated dislike counts, can damage reputations and careers. Public figures often have to invest significant time and resources to counteract these narratives, detracting from their work and personal lives. Moreover, these false narratives can influence public opinion, creating an unfair bias against the individual or entity involved.
MrBeast’s response and strategies
MrBeast has adopted a mixed approach in responding to various allegations. In relation to serious allegations of Ava Tyson’s behavior online, MrBeast made a public statement on Twitter and took immediate action by removing Ava from the company, channel, and any association with MrBeast after online evidence and pressure.
For the recent claim that the video was faked by DogPack404, he hired one of the best law firms to issue a cease and desist notice. The person making the claim has a controversial background, including being with the team on a probation period for 90 days but not lasting even 30 days. He was fired with full pay for 90 days provided, which might have triggered a sense of revenge to spread false claims. Even if some of the details he might have presented relates – many of those are also ones which they openly claim as being CGI and do have the behind the scene made public on various other channels.
It is not MrBeast’s or his team’s responsibility to address every allegation publicly. This situation has prompted MrBeast as a company to take a firm stance to prevent similar behaviors in the future. This might be why they’re taking their steps very carefully and the recent video likely pushed back by a week from their normal schedule to evaluate the overall situation.
As this is an ongoing case, there will be much to learn and process in relation to it. Let’s see how it continues to unfold in days to come.
