Users Panic as YouTube Interaction Buttons Disappear—Bug or A/B Test?

Is YouTube experimenting with removing the like and dislike buttons, or was this just a brief technical hiccup? Over the past few days, some users on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) reported a strange issue on the platform: several key interaction buttons had disappeared beneath YouTube videos.

Screenshots shared by users showed that the area under the video player—normally home to the like, dislike, share, create, and download options—was entirely blank. Only the video title and view count were visible, followed immediately by the comments. This oddity appeared both on YouTube’s mobile apps and its desktop site, sparking confusion and frustration.

Naturally, the internet began speculating. Was YouTube running yet another A/B test, potentially considering a future without like and dislike buttons? The idea wasn’t too far-fetched given the platform’s track record, especially after the controversial decision to hide public dislike counts in 2021—a move that still divides opinion today.

Some users were quick to suspect the worst. A Reddit user, burn_healz, said they contacted YouTube support and were told it was a bug, but expressed doubt, saying it looked more like a test to remove the like/dislike feature altogether. Others took a more humorous route—user Falconator100 quipped, “YouTube was like ‘f**k it, likes are making people feel too good about themselves.’”

I’ll admit, I wasn’t thrilled when YouTube removed public dislike counts. If they go as far as removing the buttons altogether (which seems unlikely), it would alienate a huge portion of the user base. Being able to quickly express approval or disapproval is a fundamental part of engaging with content on social media. Losing that would feel like a step backward.

That said, the situation doesn’t appear to be a planned feature test. In most reported cases, the missing buttons reappeared within a few hours. Several Reddit users even updated their posts to confirm everything had returned to normal. After checking the app myself on both Android and iOS, as well as the desktop site, all interaction buttons were present and functioning as expected.

While the temporary disappearance of these buttons sparked concern and reignited debates about YouTube’s evolving design, all signs point to it being a brief glitch rather than a new feature rollout. The platform previously caused alarm late last year when the visible “Like” count temporarily vanished for many users. Hopefully, this recent issue is just another temporary bug—because honestly, YouTube, we’ve had enough “experiments.” Please don’t take our thumbs away.

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