A few months ago, it came to the forefront that Twitter was testing ‘downvote’ buttons for the replies. The idea is similar to the one already available on Reddit and a few other websites. Twitter had mentioned back then that it took the move to gather information on the feedback about conversations so that the platform could give priority to “higher quality content.”
Twitter explained that the downvote button gauges the value and relevance of tweet replies to the overall conversation. What it means is that the downvote button does not necessarily express the user’s dislikes.
Although Twitter had been testing out the inclusion of the downvote button for quite a while now, the online platform never actually mentioned when the said button would be available to all of its users. A small group of people has been selected to test the feature out.
After months of its testing phase, some users have claimed that they have received the downvote reply options in their iOS devices. Although the feature is not available to every user as of now, and it is not clear if it is available for Android users.
It is important, however, to note that downvotes are private, in that when a user decides to express his or her concern using the downvote button, Twitter will not reveal their identity to the public on the timeline, nor does Twitter notify the author of the Tweet about the feedback.
Moreover, downvotes are less likely to affect the ranking of the individual reply. But the downvote button could minimize the visibility of irrelevant and unrelated tweet responses. Twitter hopes that introducing the downvote button will make the tweets more engaging by gathering relevant and valuable responses on the topic the user selects to follow and read through.
