YouTube subscriber count abbreviations: Difference between revisions
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On May 21, 2019, YouTube announced an update to the way subscriber counts were shown on the site, which would later be titled '''subscriber count abbreviations'''. Not only was the site changed to show these new subscriber counts, the public [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/API API] was also updated to only return truncated counts up to 3 digits. | On May 21, 2019, YouTube announced an update to the way subscriber counts were shown on the site, which would later be titled '''subscriber count abbreviations'''. Not only was the site changed to show these new subscriber counts, the public [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/API API] was also updated to only return truncated counts up to 3 digits. | ||
This update was heavily disliked by creators, especially in the [[Statistics Community|statistics community]], due to YouTube's unusual | This update was heavily disliked by creators, especially in the [[Statistics Community|statistics community]], due to YouTube's unusual reasoning and the fact that it made live subscriber counts such as [[Social Blade]] and Livecounts.net no longer being able to track live subscriber counts. | ||
==First announcement== | ==First announcement== | ||
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<blockquote>To create more consistency everywhere that we publicly display subscriber counts, starting in August 2019, we’ll begin showing the abbreviated subscriber number across all public YouTube surfaces. Third parties that use YouTube’s API Services will also access the same public facing counts you see on YouTube. Creators will still be able to see their exact number of subscribers in YouTube Studio.</blockquote> | <blockquote>To create more consistency everywhere that we publicly display subscriber counts, starting in August 2019, we’ll begin showing the abbreviated subscriber number across all public YouTube surfaces. Third parties that use YouTube’s API Services will also access the same public facing counts you see on YouTube. Creators will still be able to see their exact number of subscribers in YouTube Studio.</blockquote> | ||
Though they stated that it would start rolling out in August 2019, they only started rolling it out on the site in the first week of September 2019,<ref>{{Cite YouTube|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=i5XjFEKb4u8&t=10|t=10|title=The moment Live SubCounts got abbreviated|author=Subscriber Battles|date=September 17, 2019}}</ref> and the API was updated not | Though they stated that it would start rolling out in August 2019, they only started rolling it out on the site in the first week of September 2019,<ref>{{Cite YouTube|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=i5XjFEKb4u8&t=10|t=10|title=The moment Live SubCounts got abbreviated|author=Subscriber Battles|date=September 17, 2019}}</ref> and the API was updated not long after, on September 17. | ||
The reasoning for the change is for concerns about stress and wellbeing, specifically around tracking public subscriber counts in real-time and to eliminate experiences of pressure about the numbers, though many didn't agree with this reasoning. | The reasoning for the change is for concerns about stress and wellbeing, specifically around tracking public subscriber counts in real-time and to eliminate experiences of pressure about the numbers, though many didn't agree with this reasoning. | ||
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==Controversy== | ==Controversy== | ||
The announcement was heavily controversial, especially in the statistics community, mostly due to live subscriber count websites such as [[Social Blade]] and Livecounts.net, would no longer be able to | The announcement was heavily controversial, especially in the statistics community, mostly due to live subscriber count websites such as [[Social Blade]] and Livecounts.net, would no longer be able to track live subscriber counts.<ref>https://socialblade.com/blog/abbreviated-subscriber-counts-on-youtube/</ref><ref>https://x.com/jaubreyYT/status/1174172975714713600</ref> SMii7Y, a popular creator on YouTube, stated on Twitter that "YouTube's abbreviated [subscriber count] update is actually the dumbest [...] thing I have ever seen."<ref>{{Cite tweet|url=https://x.com/SMii7Y/status/1179254786434244608|name=SMii7Y}}</ref> | ||
The decision to truncate the counts on the public API was also heavily criticized,<ref>{{Cite YouTube|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=i5XjFEKb4u8&t=60|t=60|title=The moment Live SubCounts got abbreviated|author=Subscriber Battles|date=September 17, 2019}}</ref> with creators in the statistics community stating that it was completely unnecessary. | The decision to truncate the counts on the public API was also heavily criticized,<ref>{{Cite YouTube|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=i5XjFEKb4u8&t=60|t=60|title=The moment Live SubCounts got abbreviated|author=Subscriber Battles|date=September 17, 2019}}</ref> with creators in the statistics community stating that it was completely unnecessary. | ||