YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind

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 Jebel Jais’s mountain range 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, as the bus driver, 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.[4][5]

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 OK 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 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. He states "That's hot, that's hot." While the credits are playing, Primitive Technology is featured, sculpting the YouTube Rewind logo with clay.[1]

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

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

Upon its release, Everyone Controls Rewind received universally negative reviews, receiving extensive backlash from critics, YouTubers and viewers alike. Many YouTubers deemed it the "worst Rewind ever", although the video received some praise for its display of YouTube animators.[6][7][8][9][10][11] 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, and popular feuds such as KSI vs Logan Paul and PewDiePie vs T-Series.[12]

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.[10] It was also prominently criticized for its social commentary, which some felt was shoehorned into the video.[10] Many people were also angered with PewDiePie's exclusion, as his channel was the most-subscribed on the platform at the time.[13][14][15]

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 appease 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".[16] 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."[17]

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."[18][19] 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 the lack of any mention of the outpouring of support on the platform for those who died before December, including Icelandic actor and YouTuber Stefán Karl Stefánsson.[20] 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.[21] 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 more than three times the number of likes compared to the official YouTube Rewind video.[22]

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".[23][24][25]

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.[4][26]

In a video uploaded in February 2019, then-YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said "Even at home, my kids told me it (Everyone Controls Rewind) was cringey." She promised a better Rewind for 2019 and revealed several priorities for YouTube for the year.[27]

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 a week 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".[28]

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."[28][29]

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."[30][31] In November 2021, dislike counts became viewable only by a video's uploader, in an attempt to "help better protect our creators from harassment, and reduce dislike attacks — where people work to drive up the number of dislikes on a creator's videos."[32][33]

The API for dislikes was removed on December 13, 2021, coinciding with the third anniversary of the milestone. This change was criticized by many, with some arguing that YouTube removed the dislike count to protect itself from further criticism of the 2018 rewind video.[34]

• YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind at IMDb
• Video (on YouTube)
• Portal-A project page