Twitter is testing a ‘dislike’ button
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The new rule is the latest in a wave of stricter policies that tech companies are rolling out to confront an outbreak of virus-related misinformation on their sites. Facebook and Google, which owns YouTube, have already put similar systems in place.
LOS ANGELES - Twitter is testing a dislike button on a segment of the platform’s users, the company confirmed on Wednesday.
The social media platform is testing the option to help the company understand "what people think is valuable to the conversation."
"Some of you on iOS may see different options to up or down vote on replies," Twitter wrote on its platform. "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."
The company noted that downvotes aren’t public, while upvotes will be shown as likes.
The latest test is similar to what its social media competitor Reddit does in targeting popular and engaging posts or comments.
In November 2020, Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter's product lead, signaled that the social network was "exploring" the idea of adding a dislike button to the app.
It remains unclear whether Twitter will expand this feature to a larger subset of users in the future.
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The news comes a month after Twitter announced the launch of Twitter Blue, the social media platform’s first subscription service designed for people who use Twitter the most and are willing to pay a monthly fee for access to exclusive features.
The new Twitter Blue offers an "Undo Tweet" feature, allowing the user to set a customizable timer of up to 30 seconds to take back a tweet and correct a typo or other mistake.
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Last year, the company also imposed tougher rules and restrictions to reduce the spread of misinformation.