A new function to “downvote” messages on Twitter is being trialled for some – the results of which authors can’t see – that may allow the platform to engineer what you see on your timeline.
“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,” claimed the official statement.
The internal tool will allow Twitter to effectively take the pulse of public opinion more accurately, although there is no confirmation about how far the rollout will go.
The test is only being conducted on iOS, which excludes Android users. There is no guarantee that Twitter will make it a permanent feature either, so dislikes could disappear as quickly as they arrived.
Technically, Twitter states it “is not a dislike button” referring to it as a “downvoting” tool instead, even though it amounts to the same thing. Some users are already seeing the new button that sits next to the like (or upvote) option and is represented by a ‘thumbs down’ icon.
Forsided, 23.07.2021