For a long time there was talk about the possibility of Twitter adding its own version of the “I don't like” button, something that was finally confirmed in the middle of the year last. However, as we told you at the time, it was a limited test aimed at checking the effect of a tool that many users claimed to combat toxicity in the social network.
Since then we had no further news regarding this issue, until yesterday. It is that Twitter announced that it will extend the scope of this feature and make it available to more users around the world. Although it will continue to be tested and not as a definitive release, it will be a good measure to further check what results its implementation offers.
As explained from Twitter, the option to mark with a “I don't like” the answers to your tweets will reach “more users on the web”. Those who use the iOS and Android apps will have to wait a little longer, but they will also be part of this expansion. But that's not all, the platform has been able to collect important data with this experiment, as far as the behavior of the public is concerned.
In the first place, the social network points out that those who used the downvote mainly did so because they considered that the replies received were offensive, irrelevant, or both. It also marks that this modality has been the most used by people to report the content they do not want to see; and that there is a consensus among testers about how this feature has raised the quality of conversations on Twitter.
Twitter's 'I don't like' has its peculiarities
Unlike what happens with the reactions in other social networks, the “I do not like” of Twitter is not public, and has limitations. The option can be used only in responses to one's own tweets, and is represented by a down arrow icon.
By applying the downvote, which is clearly inspired by Reddit, the other person does not receive a notification or alert; this to avoid retaliation or that more controversies are fed into a conversation. Basically, Twitter intends to use this tool as a signal of what content users are not comfortable with.
Beyond the usefulness of this feature, Twitter is trying to find a way around a growing problem on the web: negative reactions and their impact. Let us remember that last year YouTube eliminated the public counter of “I don't like it” in its videos, since it considered that the metrics promoted its use and fueled hatred and harassment, especially in small channels.
Facebook, for its part, has also dealt with such situations since it implemented its signature feature, the “Like” button. However, the social network founded by Mark Zuckerberg has chosen to offer a range of “emotions” to react to posts, something that is also expected to reach Twitter.
