Twitter has granted access to Downvote replies worldwide.
The micro-blogging app initially made the feature private, restricting it to a small number of iOS users.
However, Twitter is making access to the feature worldwide.
What are Upvote and Downvote?
Twitter’s Upvote and Downvote are reaction icons that users can use to express their desires on a tweet.
They are symbols you can use to engage a reply to a tweet.
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Meanwhile, Twitter’s Upvote and Downvote come in different styles viz:
- The up (↑) and down arrows (↓).
- A heart Icon (♥)
- A thumbs up icon and;
- A thumbs down icon.
Twitter collates the total tallies for upvotes and downvotes and uses them to tweak what replies to show users.
What it means is that Twitter will not show you similar tweets that have much downvotes.
Instead, it will show you tweets that have large upvotes.
Meanwhile, Twitter has many other ways users can flag down offensive or irrelevant tweets.
Other options include muting of conversations or flagging it as spam.
You can find these options under the dropdown menus.
Meanwhile, the total tally for the upvotes and downvotes are private, thus, the general public can’t see the total tally.
The bird’s app started testing the feature last year.
Following its experiment, Twitter said it discovered that most users use the downvote icon on irrelevant or offensive tweets.
According to Twitter, “This experiment also revealed that downvoting is the most frequently used way for people to flag content they don’t want to see.”
It revealed this in a series of tweets Friday.
According the Twitter, “A majority of our users shared that the reason they clicked the down arrow was either because the reply was perceived as offensive, or because they perceived it as not relevant, or both.”
“This experiment also revealed that downvoting is the most frequently used way for people to flag content they don’t want to see.”
We’ve been testing how we can surface the most relevant replies within Tweets with the use of downvoting on replies. As we’re expanding the experiment to a global audience, we want to share a little about what we have learned thus far!
👇 https://t.co/wM0CpwRgo6— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) February 3, 2022
“Finally, people who have tested downvoting agree it improves the quality of conversations on Twitter. We’re excited to see how others think of it as it becomes available to more of you.”
Twitter’s conclusion so far is that access to downvoting will become a permanent addition to the site.
Implication:
This global access to downvote tweets helps to identify which tweets or replies users find irrelevant.
So, users downvote tweets they feel are offensive or irrelevant.
For instance, you must have come across many tweets talking about very important issues like election or employment.
However, you find some tweeps who suddenly tweet irrelevant tweets like those suddenly advertising sexual enhancements.
Some would also tweet offensive tweets that have nothing to do with the issue under discuss.
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