«No dislike»: Twitter adds a thumbs down option for iPhone users.
As if the Internet didn’t have enough negativity already: Twitter is testing a «thumbs down» option for iPhone users.
Twitter is trying out a voting feature reminiscent of that of the content aggregator Reddit. Now, iPhone users have more than just the «like» button. Instead of laboriously typing the comment, «I wish I could give you a dislike...», simply downvote the tweet. The company announced this in a tweet.
The feature is still in its early stages and is being monitored by Twitter’s engineers. «We’re testing this to understand the types of replies you find relevant in a convo,» Twitter writes. Since not all iPhone users have this feature, the thumbs-down votes, called downvotes, aren’t displayed. Upvotes, or thumbs up, are accounted for and displayed as likes.
Twitter announced the rules and mechanisms of the feature today:
- This is just a test for research right now.
- This isn’t a dislike button.
- Your downvotes are visible to you (and Twitter).
- Upvotes and downvotes won’t change the order of replies.
Criticism has been voiced already. Journalist Erin Biba speaks for many Twitter users:
Hey guess what everyone we’ve given people a way to anonymously dog-pile harass you, threaten you and your account, and you won’t even know it’s happening! Great plan Twitter. Great fantastic plan. No way this will be horrifically abused.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.