X (formerly Twitter) may be testing a new feature aimed at increasing engagement on the platform by allowing users to downvote posts on iPhone. According to claims on social media, the feature may appear as a ‘dislike’ option in the form of a heartbroken icon, instead of a Reddit-like downward arrow. The experiment was first reported in 2021 and a recent discovery of code references related to the feature hint at its ongoing testing.
Dislike Button on X
According to a post on the microblogging platform by user @aaronp613, the ability to dislike posts could be introduced soon on the X app for the iOS platform. Code references have reportedly been discovered, hinting at a heartbroken emoji-style icon for dislikes, similar to the like option which appears as a heart icon.
Strings of text also seem to appear in the app’s code. As per the user, one of the strings reads, “Do you want to downvote this post?”, while another is simply presented as “Downvote this post”. However, it is unclear if the ability to downvote would be available for both posts and replies or just the former, considering that the code has only mentions of “posts”.
X – back when it was Twitter – first announced that it would be testing a downvotes feature on iOS in 2021. It was reported as part of a “small research experiment” that added upvote and downvote options for replies. The microblogging platform confirmed that downvotes weren’t public, while likes could be seen by everyone, until an update made them hidden last month.
Notably, another user @P4mui posted a video clip of the alleged downvoting option in function. However, the clip suggests that the option is only for replies and not for posts on the microblogging platform.
Hidden Likes
In addition to a rumoured ‘dislikes’ feature, Elon Musk’s X recently made a decision to hide ‘likes’ from the platform. This means posts liked by a user won’t be visible on their profile under the likes tab. Consequently, the entire section has been removed. It is just one of the many changes introduced on the microblogging platform since Elon Musk’s takeover in 2022.
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