Twitter rolls out downvotes for all — what you need to know

Twitter rolls out downvotes for all — what y'all need to know

(Paradigm credit: XanderSt/Shutterstock)

Sometimes Twitter can elevate caustic replies over meaningful conversation, but a new downvote feature aims to quell some of that.

Last year Twitter said information technology was testing a new downvote push with some users, and now the company is sending the feature global. Per a Tweet, Twitter Condom appear the implementation of downvotes and why information technology's doing so.

"A majority of our users shared that the reason they clicked the downwards arrow was either considering the reply was perceived as offensive, or because they perceived it as not relevant, or both," said Twitter Safety. "This experiment also revealed that downvoting is the virtually oftentimes used style for people to flag content they don't want to run into."

More chiefly, Twitter Safety revealed that, "people who have tested downvoting agree it improves the quality of conversations on Twitter."

Like YouTube, and unlike Reddit, Twitter will non show users the number of downvotes a post receives. The downvote push seems to be purely a backend counting mechanism to help reel in an overactive algorithm. YouTube removed its downvote counter late last year claiming information technology was causing mental anguish and was being used to harass, although it's possible to see them with a browser extension. Facebook as well had experimented with downvotes simply opted for emoji reactions instead.

If you tin can't see the downvote button even so, don't worry. Twitter is still rolling out the feature.

Image of Twitter timeline of phone with downvote button. — (Epitome credit: Twitter)

The electric current Twitter algorithm remains a mystery, but journalists and social media-side by side companies continue to analyze it to see what the visitor is changing backside the scenes. Back in 2022, CNN reported that Twitter'southward algorithm might exist inadvertently showing users extreme political content. This could be because social media companies want user engagement, and sometimes the most engaged content happens to also exist controversial.

Just you might be asking: how could Twitter not know? Well, all these algorithms are based on machine learning, meaning that Twitter is constantly having to analyze its own algorithm to understand what going on. That's why Twitter formed META, the Machine Learning Ethics, Transparency, and Accountability team. It's in dissimilarity to Facebook, which blocked research into its algorithm.

Either way, the curated content per Twitter'southward algorithm plays a greater office in the "Home" timeline over the "Latest Tweets" timeline. The one-time shows a curated list of peak tweets per the algorithm, where the latter shows tweets in chronological order based on recency. Users can toggle betwixt the ii.

"Algorithmic amplification is not problematic past default – all algorithms amplify. Algorithmic amplification is problematic if there is preferential treatment as a function of how the algorithm is synthetic versus the interactions people take with it," said Twitter in the blog postal service linked above. The company went on to say last year it would determine what changes would demand to be fabricated to reduce the adverse impacts of distension on its Home timeline algorithm.

Well, it seems that the downvote push is the solution Twitter is going with. Whether timelines become better remains to be seen.

Imad Khan is news editor at Tom's Guide, helping directly the day's breaking coverage. Prior to working at the site, Imad was a full-time freelancer, with bylines at the New York Times, the Washington Post and ESPN. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in forepart of a Discussion document trying desperately to write the starting time pages of a new book.