Twitter is now testing a “dislike” button in an effort to improve conversations on the platform.
News of the test began circulating Wednesday, after some users received messages from Twitter stating they could now dislike, or “downvote,” tweet replies. The company reassured users their downvotes will not be visible to the public, but explained they will help Twitter “understand what people think is valuable to the conversation.”
The Twitter Support account provided more details on the test run, saying only select iOS users will see the option for “upvotes” and “downvotes,” the former of which will be displayed as “likes.”
“Some of you on iOS may see different options to up or down vote on replies,” the tweet read. “We’re testing this to understand the types of replies you find relevant in a convo, so we can work on ways to show more of them. Your downvotes aren’t public, while your upvotes will be shown as likes.”
The down- and upvote buttons aren’t new to online platforms. Reddit has used a similar system for years, allowing Redditors to determine which posts are most revelant to a subreddit.
The platform poked fun at Twitter’s test run shortly after it was announced, reminding the world Reddit did it first.
Back in November, Twitter’s product lead Kayvon Beykpour confirmed that the implementation of a “dislike” button was something the company was “exploring.”
Twitter has not indicated how many iOS users are involved in the test or whether the team intends to expand the option in the future.
