It’s the kind of unflinching honesty that you probably wouldn’t expect from the CEO of a big-name company, but YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki was candid in the extreme this week when she admitted that even her own kids thought YouTube’sRewind 2018video was awful.
The 2018 edition of YouTube’s annual recap quickly became the most disliked video in the streaming site’s history, and to date has promptedmore than 15 million peopleto hit the down-vote button.
“One record we definitely didn’t set out to break was the most disliked video on the internet,” Wojcicki wrote. “Even at home, my kids told me our 2018Rewindwas ‘cringey.’ We hear you that it didn’t accurately show the year’s key moments, nor did it reflect the YouTube you know.”
But in a comment almost certain to tempt the more mischievous members of YouTube’s community to set a new down-vote record with this year’sRewindvideo, the CEO promised: “We’ll do better to tell our story in 2019.”
A quick look through some of the comments forRewind 2018suggested many people had been put off by the video’s “cringey” skits that featured many of the year’s most popular YouTubers.
One commenter wrote, “If YouTube was really like this, I would never visit this site,” while someone else said, “It is unbelievable how disconnected YouTube has become with their audience.” Another commenter summed up the video in just three words, writing simply: “I feel uncomfortable.”
Looking ahead and hoping to forget the disaster that wasRewind 2018, Wojcicki said that this yearYouTubeis focusing on offering more support to creators and artists, improving communication and engagement, and creating a more responsible service. Hopefully, Wojcicki will consult her kids about the nextRewindvideo, too.
