On July 21, Twitter revealed a new feature that’s got users talking—a downvote button that will help the platform better grasp the kinds of conversations its audience finds helpful. Currently, this new add on is only available to a select group with an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPadOS.
“Some of you on iOS may see different options to up or down vote on replies,” the social network shared in a public statement. “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. Your downvotes aren’t public, while your upvotes will be shown as likes.”
Downvotes will also not be visible to the user.
This news comes in the midst of another change— the removal of fleets, a capability that let users post images, tweets and text-based messages for 24-hours before disappearing. “[I]n the time since we introduced Fleets to everyone, we haven’t seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped. Because of this, on August 3, Fleets will no longer be available on Twitter,” the platform wrote in a blog post.
In May 2021, the site also re-launched its verification application, allowing users to apply for a blue verification tick rather than wait to be verified by the platform. You can see if you’re eligible here.
In November 2020, Twitter’s product lead Kayvon Beykpour revealed a dislike button was being “explored” by Twitter. In response to another Tweet, he also shared “removing all coordinated inauthentic behavior, improving user experience as it pertains to harassment and disinformation harming users” were among the platform’s “top priorit[ies].”
