X Moves to the Next Stage of Testing for Comment Downvotes

X is moving to the next stage of its test of downvotes on post replies, with a new variation of its downvote option appearing in the back-end code of the app this week.

As you can see in this example, posted by user @P4mui, X now has a new downvote button in production, which hasn’t been released for public testing as yet, but does look to be close to launch.

The new UI button on replies is a broken heart icon, as opposed to the heart for a Like. So it’s effectively a dislike button, which will be displayed on post replies only, not on actual posts themselves.

That will then help X rank the most relevant post replies in order, to help maximize engagement, while also giving users a means to downvote spam and junk replies, ideally shifting them further down and out of view. And as more users vote down more junk, over time, it’ll become less effective to reply to popular posts purely for engagement, which, eventually, could disincentivize spammers from trying.

Though, of course, it’ll also enable people to downvote whatever comments they disagree with, which could see legitimate criticism, or factual retorts, pushed out of the frame on ideological grounds.

But X is accounting for this as well, by factoring in the historic political bias of each user when using dislikes as a ranking signal. So Trump supporters can’t just bombard the replies of a pro-Biden post, for example, with X looking to use the same political leaning measurement that it’s built into Community Notes.

Which, ideally, will mean that the system is able to rank replies without political bias, though a lot does depend on the specifics of how X decides what each person’s political slant is, and how it weights such.

But at least in theory, this should help to ensure that people don’t weaponize this system to quash opinions that they simply don’t like, with the bulk of agreed downvotes most likely going to the intended comments, being spammers, engagement baiters, and the like.

And if it works, it could help to improve engagement in the app, by highlighting the most interesting comments beneath each update. That’ll make it easier to jump into the related conversation, without having to wade through the trash.

X hasn’t provided any details on the option as yet, but it has confirmed that it is conducting early experiments, with a view to a broader test soon.

So soon, you’ll be registering your dissatisfaction of X replies with a broken heart emoji. Which seems a bit heavy-handed in a symbolic sense, but conceptually, the process could help to improve the X experience, while also putting more power in the hands of users to influence ranking.

Though, in a related consideration, I wonder how this aligns with X’s coming refresh of its feed UI., where all of the lower post function buttons will be hidden, in favor of a cleaner, plainer feed.

Here is what X is going to look like without any like/repost buttons on the timeline, all gesture based:

Swipe left and right to like and reply or Force Touch to see a menu with more actions pic.twitter.com/imfgi0ouvV

— Aaron (@aaronp613) July 2, 2024
As you can see in this example (shared by @aaronp613), you’ll still be able to tap through on any post within this new timeline format, and all of the lower function buttons will still be there, so they’re not going away entirely, they’re just being hidden in the main view. 

But it does also seem potentially confusing. For example, you’ll soon be able to swipe left to like a post, but to dislike a reply, you’ll have to tap on a specific button, which will still be below the post. I guess the same will apply to liking a reply as well, and I wonder whether these variations in how you interact within different elements of the app will be a better or worse experience.

Conceptually, I understand the desire to build a more responsive UI in the feed, based on swipe functionality, which could, eventually, be more intuitive. But if it works that way in one element, but not in another, that seems potentially problematic for adoption. 

Seems that we’re gonna’ find out, with both updates getting closer to launch.