YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind

YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind (also known as YouTube Rewind 2018 and Everyone Controls Rewind) is a video that was uploaded to the YouTube official channel on video-sharing website YouTube on December 6, 2018, as part of the YouTube Rewind series; the video is currently the most-disliked video on YouTube. The video prominently featured references to Fortnite Battle Royale and starred YouTubers and online celebrities such as Ninja and Marques Brownlee, as well as celebrities like Will Smith and Trevor Noah.[1] It is the first video in the YouTube Rewind series to feature a combination of animation and live-action sequences.

"YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind"
YouTube Rewind episode
Thumbnail of YouTube Rewind 2018
Directed byKai Hasson
Produced byElyse Preiss, Kady Kamakate, Eduardo Castro Fonseca, Kenji Green
Featured musicThe Hood Internet
Original release dateDecember 6, 2018 (2018-12-06)
Running time8 minutes and 13 seconds

YouTube Rewind 2018 was heavily panned by critics, YouTubers, and viewers alike, who subsequently dubbed it the worst YouTube Rewind video to date.[2][3] The video was criticized for obscure trending or unpopular YouTubers; lack of tributes to recent deaths such as Stephen Hawking, Aretha Franklin, Stefán Karl Stefánsson, Avicii, TotalBiscuit, Stephen Hillenburg, XXXTentacion and Stan Lee; the inclusion of unpopular or outdated trends; and the exclusion of many prominent YouTubers of the year, such as Shane Dawson, MrBeast and PewDiePie, as well as popular rivalries such as KSI vs Logan Paul and PewDiePie vs T-Series. However, its animated sequences were praised and Will Smith's appearance in the video became an Internet meme.

By December 13, 2018, Everyone Controls Rewind had over 10 million dislikes, making it the most-disliked video on YouTube, a record that was previously held by the music video for Justin Bieber's "Baby" for over 7 years.[4]

Overview

The video is themed around everyone being able to control YouTube Rewind, with various featured personalities describing what events they want to review. The video begins with actor Will Smith on the Swiss Alps suggesting the inclusion of popular video game Fortnite and YouTuber Marques Brownlee if he could control rewind in the video. The camera then cuts to Brownlee, other YouTubers and Twitch streamer Ninja conversing inside a battle bus, a Fortnite reference. "I Like It" by famous rapper Cardi B is played on the radio during the scene as well.

The following scene depicts a group of YouTube personalities surrounding a campfire. Casey Neistat and the Merrell Twins suggest that the Rewind should mention K-pop, after which the video cuts to Neistat, among others, imitating the music video of "Idol" by K-pop group BTS.

The video then cuts back to the campfire, as one YouTuber proposes a reference to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but comedian Michael Dapaah establishes that the internet meme 'Bongo Cat' will be the groom. Following the wedding scene, Safiya Nygaard suggests a science experiment involving melting lipstick. Another then suggests the inclusion of electronic musician Marshmello, whose mask is removed, revealing Mason Ramsey underneath. The video then cuts to a group doing a mukbang in Korea.

Eventually, the scene shifts back to the campfire, when animator TheOdd1sOut suggests the inclusion of the "In My Feelings" challenge. The video rapidly cuts between scenes of various YouTubers and celebrities dancing to Drake's song "In My Feelings", including scenes of talk show hosts Trevor Noah and John Oliver performing dances from Fortnite.[1] Here, animator Jaiden Animations included several easter eggs, comprising references to other memes and events of the year, such as Ugandan Knuckles, an invitation to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the KSI vs. Logan Paul boxing match, a group of items on the wall that spell out "Sub 2 Pewdiepie", as well as PewDiePie's swivel chair.[5][6][7]

The video once again cuts back to the group sitting around the campfire, with Lilly Singh claiming that the video should feature "the people who managed to do something bigger than themselves". Then several Youtubers give shoutouts to various groups of people, including "everyone who proved it's O.K to talk about mental health" and a shoutout to "all women in 2018 for finding their voices". Afterwards, Elle Mills decides to read a faux comments section for further suggestions on what to feature in the Rewind.

Various comments are featured, leading to the inclusion of more pop culture moments that took place over the past year. Some (including actress Lele Pons) take part in a fashion show, wearing the iconic costumes featured in Kanye West and Lil Pump's "I Love It" music video, followed by references to the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the Dame Tu Cosita dance craze. The 'Sister Squad' (James Charles, Dolan Twins and Emma Chamberlain) are then shown in outer space, driving a car resembling Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster.

The video ends with Smith laughing and watching the aforementioned battle bus through a pair of binoculars. While the credits are playing, Primitive Technology is featured, sculpting the YouTube Rewind logo with clay.[1]

Cast

Below is a list of starring cast members in YouTube Rewind 2018, derived from the video's description:

Reception
Everyone Controls Rewind was criticized for excluding PewDiePie, despite being the platform's most-subscribed channel at the time and his rivalry with T-Series generating significant attention. Pewdiepie himself, alongside many other YouTube personalities, criticized the video, calling it "cringey".

Upon its release, Everyone Controls Rewind was universally panned, receiving extensive backlash from critics, YouTubers and viewers alike, with many YouTubers deeming it the "worst Rewind ever" although the video received some praise for its display of YouTube animators.[14] Criticisms ranged from the inclusion of celebrities and personalities who are not affiliated with YouTube (such as Will Smith, Ninja, John Oliver, and Trevor Noah) to the exclusion of major YouTube personalities, such as Shane Dawson, KSI, Logan Paul, MrBeast and PewDiePie,[15] and popular feuds such as KSI vs Logan Paul and PewDiePie vs T-Series.[16]

Other criticisms included what viewers had seen as the video's overuse of some trends, many of which were classified as outdated or unpopular, including Fortnite, as well as the lack of variety in references.[17] It was also prominently criticized for its social commentary, which some felt was shoehorned into the video.[17] Additional criticisms came from the video's lack of tributes to Dolores O'Riordan, Stephen Hawking, Craig Mack, Avicii, Verne Troyer, TotalBiscuit, Anthony Bourdain, Stefán Karl Stefánsson, XXXTentacion, Aretha Franklin, Mac Miller, R. Lee Ermey, Stan Lee, and Stephen Hillenburg, all of whom died in 2018, despite each of their deaths having made a major impact on the YouTube community. Many people were also angered with PewDiePie's exclusion, as his channel was the most-subscribed on the platform at the time.[18][19][20]

Everyone Controls Rewind incorporated user comment suggestions as a part of the video, although many viewers stated that the trends that the video included were unpopular with the majority of the community, calling YouTube "out of touch" with its viewers and their interests. Julia Alexander of The Verge suggested that YouTube had intentionally left out the biggest moments on the platform in 2018 from the video in an attempt to calm concerned advertisers over controversies that had plagued the platform over the past 2 years, saying "it's increasingly apparent, however, that YouTube is trying to sell a culture that's different from the one millions of people come to the platform for, and that's getting harder for both creators and fans to swallow".[21] Meira Gebel of Business Insider shared a similar sentiment, saying "The video appears to be an attempt for the company to keep advertisers on its side following a rather rocky 2018."[22]

PewDiePie, who was not included in Everyone Controls Rewind, criticized the video, stating: "I'm almost glad I'm not in it. The reason why is because it's such a cringey video at this point which I think is quite a shame honestly."[23][24] adding that "Rewind [used to be] something that seemed like an homage to the creators that year, it was something cool to be a part of". He further criticized the over-saturation of Fortnite, the inclusion of celebrities not associated with YouTube, and not mentioning the outpouring of support on YouTube for those who passed away before December, including Icelandic actor and YouTuber Stefán Karl Stefánsson.[25] On top of his criticism, he, along with FlyingKitty, Party In Backyard, Grandayy and Dolan Dark, created their take of Everyone Controls Rewind on December 27, 2018, titled "YouTube Rewind 2018 but it's actually good", which focused on the notable memes of 2018 and paid homage to the aforementioned deaths.[26] It received more than 7 million likes in less than 2 days, making it the second most liked non-music video on YouTube, while also having over 3 times the amount of likes compared to the official YouTube Rewind video.[27]

Marques Brownlee, who was prominently featured in the video, said Rewind had once been a "big celebration of YouTubers and the biggest events that had happened on the site in a particular year. It became an honor to be included in Rewind. But now YouTube saw Rewind as a way to showcase all the best stuff that happens on YouTube for advertisers." He concluded that "Instead of honoring creators, it is now a list of advertiser-friendly content. Rewind has turned into a giant ad for YouTube".[28][29][30]

Only a few portions of the video received praise, with many viewers applauding Jaiden Animations for incorporating PewDiePie's chair, as well as other easter eggs, into her segment of the video.[5][31]

In a video uploaded in February 2019, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said "Even at home, my kids told me it (Everyone Controls Rewind) was cringey." She promised a better Rewind in 2019 and revealed several priorities for YouTube for the year.[32]

Dislikes
YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind surpassed "Baby" to become the most-disliked YouTube video within a week of being uploaded.

On December 13, 2018, just 7 days after it was uploaded, it became the most-disliked video in the history of the website, beating the previous record-holder: the music video for Justin Bieber's "Baby".[33]

In a statement given to media outlets, YouTube spokeswoman Andrea Faville said that "dethroning 'Baby' in dislikes wasn't exactly our goal this year." She added: "Honest feedback can suck, but we are listening and we appreciate how much people care. Trying to capture the magic of YouTube in one single video is like trying to capture lightning in a bottle. We also learned that creating content can be really hard and this underscores our respect and admiration for YouTube creators doing it every day," adding in a tweet that "we hear what you're saying, and we want to make next year better for all of you."[33][34]

After the release of the video and subsequent backlash, YouTube discussed possible options to prevent abuse of the dislike button by "dislike mobs", such as making the like–dislike ratings invisible by default, prompting disliking users to explain their dislike, removing the dislike count or the dislike button entirely. Tom Leung, the director of project management at YouTube, described the possibility of removing the dislike button to be the most extreme and undemocratic option, as "not all dislikes are from dislike mobs." [35][36]

gollark: Well, it compiles to LLVM, but whatever.
gollark: So does Haskell. It is quite slow.
gollark: So what?
gollark: Also, why go.
gollark: https://http.cat/A great resource for HTTP status codes.

References
  1. Spotlight, YouTube. "YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind | #YouTubeRewind". YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  2. Rodriguez, Ashley (December 13, 2018). "YouTube made the most-hated YouTube video ever". Quartz. Archived from the original on December 14, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  3. Silver, Curtis (December 14, 2018). "YouTube Rewind 2018 is the worst acid trip your dad can't remember". KnowTechie. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  4. Schoon, Ben (December 13, 2018). "[Update: 10 million dislikes] YouTube Rewind 2018 beat 'Baby' as the most disliked video of all time". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  5. Animations, Jaiden, 'What my trip to Japan was like" (YouTube video), retrieved December 25, 2018(The external link goes to the timestamp of the video where Jaiden herself explains what she hid in her segment of YouTube Rewind)
  6. Griffon, Louise. "Inside the world of JaidenAnimations: The animator who hid PewDiePie memes in YouTube Rewind". Metro.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  7. Jaiden Animations [@JaidenAnimation] (December 6, 2018). "Youtube Rewind broke my animation up so I thought I'd share with you the entire clip so the hard work doesn't go to waste and you can see it :] (and the process steps as well) Thanks for watching and hope you enjoy my memes" (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 8, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2018 – via Twitter.
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