YouTube Rewind 2020 Won't Happen And You Already Know Why
For the first time in years, YouTube has announced that it will not be releasing its YouTube Rewind video series at the end of the year. The reason is exactly what you've guessed: 2020 isn't a great year and it's not really one we're going to look back on fondly. The company issued a statement on the matter, indicating that it will resume Rewind at the end of 2021.
The YouTube Rewind series is a recap of the previous year, covering things like popular creators, trends from that year, music, and videos that went viral on the service. YouTube uploads the Rewind video series toward the end of the year on its account.
About Rewind this year. pic.twitter.com/oVayH8iyqG
— YouTube (@YouTube) November 12, 2020
The video recap series has been available on the platform every year from 2010 to 2019 — but it's obvious why YouTube would want to skip 2020. The company acknowledged in its tweeted statement that its creators still produced great content this year, but that ultimately '2020 has been different. And it doesn't feel right to carry on as if it weren't.'
It's not a bad time for YouTube to take a break from its Rewind series for multiple reasons. The pandemic is the big one, quite obviously, but it's hard to ignore that YouTube has seen heavily negative feedback on its Rewind series over the past two years.
YouTube Rewind 2018 was panned by critics and went on to earn millions of dislikes, making it a record-breaking video, but not in the way YouTube hoped. The YouTube Rewind 2019 video was likewise criticized as lackluster compared to past installments. Perhaps taking a break will give YouTube a chance to reimagine its recap series.