I think everyone is in agreement that 2020 has been one of the worst years in recent memory. Normally this time of the year, we’re enjoying recaps of the best movies, tv shows, music, etc from the past 10 months. But this is one of those times when we probably want to forget that this year ever happened. YouTube seems to feel that way as for the first time since they launched it in 2010, they are canceling their Rewind feature.
YouTube announced in a tweet that their annual look back at the most impactful creators, videos, and trends of the year will be postponed as 2020 “has been different”. That’s probably a massive understatement but they acknowledged that it didn’t feel right to do one this year. They did say thank you to everyone for “making a difference” and highlighted the fact that creators helped in lifting people up and helping people cope with this pandemic and all other 2020 events.
About Rewind this year. pic.twitter.com/oVayH8iyqG
— YouTube (@YouTube) November 12, 2020
It’s pretty interesting that actually, because of the pandemic, more people have been spending time on YouTube and other social media platforms. And while people are stuck at home, a lot have also coped with this by making videos of their own. We saw “with me” type of videos become popular like Cook With Me, Workout with me, Study with me, etc. But Google probably didn’t feel it was still right to have a Review after all that happened.
They didn’t really say if they will be back with a Rewind in 2021, probably since we’re all not sure if next year would actually be better or worse than 2020. Review has also been a source of unintended hilarity for both viewers and creators. 2018 comes to mind (the most disliked video on the platform) and they acknowledged that subtly in their announcement on Twitter and even CEO Susan Wojcicki acknowledged last year that 2018 was cringey.
So sorry guys, no Review video to look forward to this year. At least YouTube Music will finally have that Year in Review playlist that users have been asking for.
