2020 was different: not just ordinary people say so, but even Internet bigwigs, who make the resulting decisions.
Things never go completely right or completely wrong, but there are times in life when they go a little worse than usual. 2020 is undoubtedly a year when things went quite a bit wrong, worldwide, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. So bad that, for the first time in 10 years, even YouTube doesn't feel like revisiting this annus horribilis and, as a result, YouTube Rewind 2020 has been cancelled.
YouTube Rewind is the celebratory video, made by YouTube itself in collaboration with Portal A Interactive, to remember the year just gone by. It's usually published in the second half of December and collects the best (according to YouTube) of what has been published during the year on the platform. The most famous influencers and YouTubers participate in its creation, as well as lesser-known creatives deemed valuable by YouTube, and big Hollywood stars (YouTube Rewind 2018 opens with Will Smith). This year, however, none of that: 2020 was too much, even for YouTube, see you in 2021.
No YouTube Rewind 2020: the announcement
It was YouTube itself, on Twitter, to announce that there will be no rewind this year. A message of a few sentences to say that "2020 was different. And it doesn't feel right to go on as if it wasn't. That's why we're taking a break from Rewind this year."
YouTube, however, doesn't miss a chance to thank all of its creatives and acknowledge their merits: "We know that a lot of the great things that happened in 2020 were created by you. You guys found ways to lift people's spirits, help them hold on and make them laugh. You guys made a tough year better. Thank you for making a difference."
User criticism
YouTube users' love of YouTube Rewind, however, has been well and truly over for a couple of years now. The 2018 edition was flooded with an avalanche of criticism and received 2.9 million likes, compared to 18 million thumbs down.
YouTube Rewind 2018, in fact, is the most criticized video in YouTube history. In 2019, YouTube tried to win back its audience with a rather pandering move: celebrating the top YouTubers by showing the ones that had gotten the most Likes.
In this way, it abdicated the burden of choice, leaving it to the audience. But not even in this case the public liked it: 3.4 million likes, 92 million dislikes. Even the announcement that there will not be a Rewind 2020 has not received much positive criticism and there are many who comment that perhaps it would be better to say goodbye to these celebratory videos, not only in 2020 but forever.