Twitter Tests Downvote Button
Unlike Reddit, downvote counts are not public on Twitter – at least, not at the moment. As a result, other Twitter users can’t see if you downvoted a tweet or the total number of downvotes on a specific tweet. The upvote button, on the other hand, will replicate the current “Like” functionality. Twitter also clarifies that votes won’t change the order of replies you see on a tweet. At this point, you might be questioning the relevance of this test. Well, according to the company, this is a test to “understand the types of replies you find relevant in a convo, so we can work on ways to show more of them.” Even before Twitter announced the test, the dislike button was first spotted by Twitter user @iglehart967.
Left: this accountRight: My alt account pic.twitter.com/pHHbnRlQ7p — Nicholas Iglehart (@iglehart97) July 21, 2021 “In this research experiment, the thumbs down icon is a downvote that lets us know that you think the reply isn’t relevant to the conversation. We want to better understand the types of replies you do and don’t find relevant in a convo,” wrote the company in response to a user’s query. Upvote and downvote buttons are not the only tools Twitter is testing to potentially make the user experience better. The company was also spotted testing Facebook-style tweet reactions a few months back. It will be interesting to see if Twitter ends up adopting the Facebook or Reddit way to tackle all unpopular opinions and hate speech prevalent in the platform.
