Twitter begins testing dislike button but there is a catch
Twitter has finally begun testing a dislike button on the app, but it is nothing like the dislike button that you see on YouTube.
In Short
- Twitter has finally begun testing a dislike button on the app,
- The micro-blogging site revealed that the iOS users will now see new upvote and downvote options below a tweet.
- Twitter has said that the downvotes will not be shown publicly.
Twitter has finally begun testing a dislike button on the app, but it is nothing like the dislike button that you see on YouTube. The micro-blogging site revealed that the iOS users will now see new upvote and downvote options below a tweet. However, the company says that the downvotes will not be shown publicly, only the user who has posted the tweet can see it. The upvotes on the other hand will appear as likes.
Twitter’s head of product Kavyon Beykpour had revealed last year that Twitter might roll out a dislike button and the app has already begun testing the feature. Twitter informed about the upcoming feature via a tweet posted from their official handle.
“Some of you on iOS may see different options to up or down vote on replies. 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,” Twitter posted.
It is important to note that downvotes are only limited to tweet responses, not the original tweet. Twitter noted that the downvotes are visible to the person who has posted the tweet only and the votes would not change the order of replies as it happens on other platforms including Quora and Reddit.
Twitter also said that the feature is just a test for research right now, Twitter has not finalised rolling it out yet. Twitter clarified that this is not a dislike button.
As of now, only YouTube has a dislike button that shows the number of likes and dislikes in a video whereas platforms like Reddit and Quora have downvotes and upvotes buttons. No other social media apps including Facebook or Instagram have explored the idea of adding a dislike button. While YouTube’s dislike button is visible to all, Twitter does not want to show downvotes. The reason behind adding a downvotes button remains unclear if it wouldn’t be visible to anyone but Twitter says that it is to understand the types of replies you find relevant in a convo.