Twitter recently announced on its support account that some iOS users will get to try out the new upvote/downvote system — reddit users may be familiar with this.
It’s just a Twitter experiment…for now
According to Twitter, the new feature is only an experiment for research. This means that we won’t be getting this feature any time soon, and it may not even be released. The downvote button is also not a dislike button and will only appear to the users themselves. This means that even if someone downvotes your post, you won’t know. This is also not Twitter’s first attempt to copy a reddit feature.
On the other hand, upvotes will be shown publicly and will appear as likes. Another difference between Twitter’s experimental feature and reddit’s existing one is the change in order of replies. On reddit, a reply with enough downvotes will be hidden; this is not the case with Twitter.
The upvote/downvote feature is not meant to harm users
In past research, we’ve learned which types of replies are considered best when reading conversations:
•Informative
•Supportive
•Positive
•Funny— Cody Elam (@codyelam) July 21, 2021
That being said, many users are concerned and voiced out that this feature can encourage bullies and trolls to act out against their victims. However, user researcher Cody Elam explains that the experiment is to learn about the qualities of replies, not to shame the users. “This gives people the power to privately voice their opinion on the quality of replies without publicly shaming others while also giving us more nuanced feedback.”
What do you think? Will you want an upvote/downvote button on Twitter?
