Love it or hate it, there's no denying that YouTube Rewind was one video that everyone looked forward to, even if it was to hate on it. This annual video series became a year-end tradition for the platform, as it roped in hundreds of popular creators to recount their memorable moments, acts, and trends during the year. But all good things come to an end, and so it does for this too. YouTube has announced that it will stop making these year-end Rewind videos, marking the 2019 Rewind as the last one it created.
In a tweet quoting a story from Tubefilter, YouTube has announced that it will be celebrating its creators in a "different and updated kind of experience" and that the platform is looking forward to Rewinds from creators themselves. The quoted story further clarifies that YouTube Rewind has been shelved, and YouTube is doing away with it for good.
The decision comes on the heels of an expected 2021 Rewind, especially since the one scheduled for 2020 did not happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rewinds before that, i.e., for 2019 and for 2018 especially, were one of the most disliked videos on the platform. Criticism on the Rewind stemmed mainly from accusations of overlooking certain creators and trends despite the video being a good 8 minutes long. The 2021 Rewind thus had a lot riding upon it, but it seems there won't be one after all.
YouTube does say that it is not abandoning the tradition because of the criticism. Instead, the platform itself has become so massive that it would be impossible to create a compilation that would satisfy all of its audience. And I do agree there.
YouTube did not mention what exactly its plans were for the "different" experience. The platform will continue to produce its annual trends lists and co-produce the annual Streamy Awards to recognize notable creators. Creators are also encouraged to create their own Rewinds, though there are no incentives from the platform to do so apart from the usual video monetization.
All the past YouTube Rewinds
If you have some hours to kill, you can browse through the previous rewinds, for there will be no more of them coming from YouTube.