YouTube Rewind 2019 keeps things simple, and that's a good thing

YouTube Rewind 2018 was a total disaster, something YouTube itself admitted not too long ago. With over 17 million dislikes, the video is the most disliked in YouTube history. Trying to avoid repeating history, the video platform released YouTube Rewind 2019 today. Thankfully, it doesn’t suck nearly as much this time around.

The video starts by acknowledging that last year’s video wasn’t well-received, to say the least. YouTube then spends the rest of the five and a half minute video sharing a series of top 10 lists and other notable 2019 achievements, including most liked video creators, most liked music videos, most viewed video games, and more.

It’s a noticeable departure from previous iterations. Newer videos took an inordinate amount of time and money bringing together YouTube’s top personalities and filming a highly-choreographed video to highlight the year’s most viral content.

These annual videos are supposed to show off some of the platform’s best and most loved content from the previous year. That’s precisely what YouTube Rewind 2019 does. In fact, that’s all it does.

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This simplicity is a big part of the reason why this year’s video is so much better. YouTube Rewind 2019 doesn’t push an agenda, make abysmal dad jokes, censor YouTubers, or overly focus on any one topic.

Instead, the video is a dolled-up highlight reel focusing on this year in review. I think this was a good call, even if the video itself isn’t nearly as entertaining as previous ones. YouTube Rewind 2019 could have been more grandiose, and the like to dislike ratio doesn’t look too promising at the time of this writing. At least the video itself doesn’t suck.

Do you think YouTube Rewind 2019 is better than last year’s, or do you think it’s still terrible? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!