Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), is adding more to its development with a new downvoting feature aimed at improving the ranking of replies.
While the company has yet to make an official announcement, recent findings reveal that this feature may resemble a “dislike” button rather than a traditional Reddit-style downvote icon.
References found within the X iOS app show the presence of a new button appearing as a broken heart icon, positioned next to the existing heart-shaped “like” button.
These findings, uncovered by reverse engineer Aaron Perris (@aaronp613), reveal direct mentions of a “downvote” feature within the app’s code.
X’s experimentation with downvoting isn’t entirely new. The platform initially tested both upvoting and downvoting buttons in 2021, prior to Musk’s acquisition.
However, these early tests applied the voting system across all posts. The latest developments suggest that X is now considering limiting the downvote option to replies only.
This approach aims to elevate more valuable replies to the top of lengthy threads while pushing less-liked responses further down. This could potentially curb users from posting inflammatory content designed to provoke reactions and generate dislikes for engagement.
In screenshots shared by Perris, the app contains newly added references to the downvoting function, including prompts asking users to confirm their downvote with phrases like “Do you want to downvote this post?” and “Downvote this post.”
The specific mention of “posts” rather than solely “replies” leaves room for speculation about whether X might extend the downvote feature to all posts on the platform.
Another user, @P4mui, provided video evidence of the dislike button in action. They showed that the button was currently available only on replies, though they were uncertain if this restriction would remain permanent.
Additionally, the dislike button was reportedly seen on an X employee’s account in a video showcasing a new method for expanding replies, although the post was quickly deleted and reposted without the dislike button.
Given the increasing sightings and tests, it seems likely that X is preparing for wider public testing of the dislike button. This is part of a series of changes X has implemented under Musk’s leadership.
Recently, the platform began hiding likes from public view, which Musk claimed would allow users to engage with more controversial content without damaging their image.
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