Twitter has announced that it is expanding the testing of the “downvote” button to a select group of users around the world. The firm said it received “positive feedback” from initial trials last July.
“We’ve learned a lot about the types of replies you don’t find relevant, and we’re expanding this test further on the web. Soon, more [users] on iOS and Android will have the ability to use the reply downvote option,” the firm said in a tweet.
Twitter says that, as before, the number of downvotes a response receives is not visible to everyone, and users’ downvotes will only be visible to them. The social media giant offered different versions for downvote in the first tests. Some users saw upvote and downvote buttons, while others only saw a downvote button next to the heart/like option. In the third version, testers were shown buttons with thumbs facing up and down instead of these options. Twitter did not specify whether the new tests around the world will offer the same options.
Twitter said the majority of testers “”.
As Twitter noted in a tweet response to its first downvote experiment, Reddit has been using downvotes since its inception in 2005. Facebook also ran a similar test in 2018, but this feature didn’t last. Instagram, on the other hand, allows users to hide likes as a way to remove some of the negative pressure associated with the service.
Likes, dislikes, downvotes, and reaction emojis are often cited by social media critics as features that can improve conversations or make them more toxic. Trials have been positive so far, Twitter says. “People who took the Downvote test agree that it improves the quality of conversations on Twitter,” says Twitter Safety. “We’re excited to see how others think as more of them become available.”
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