Twitter To Add Reactions and Downvotes Feature
The long-rumored emojis and downvotes feature now seem to be closer to launch than ever as Twitter could soon start offering a whole set of different ways to respond to tweets, based on a hidden code spotted in the iOS version of the app.
That’s as per reverse engineering tipster @nima_owji (via 9to5Mac), who has done some digging into the Twitter app code. These features aren’t actually live yet for users, but it looks as though the software is laying the groundwork for them.
In recent months, rumors have been swirling about reactions coming to Twitter. The reaction feature when they appear should work in a similar way to the equivalent feature we see on its counterpart Facebook: you’ll be able to react to a tweet with any emoji of your choice; a thinking face, a sad face, an angry face, a laughing face, a clap or a heart.
As for the downvotes feature, this is something else we’ve heard about before, this time through official channels. With more of the Twitter app code now geared up for downvote support, it would appear it’s going to roll out very soon.
From what we know so far, it looks as though Twitter is going to use downvotes to filter out spammy and abusive replies which seem dominant in the platform. The good thing about the development is that the author of a tweet that gets downvoted won’t be notified, and downvotes won’t appear publicly on the timeline, but there will be an option to hide tweets and replies that have been marked in this way.
There’s still no official word from Twitter on when these features might roll out completely, but as they’ve been in the works for months, it shouldn’t be too long now – Do keep your eyes on the Twitter app on your phone and also check for updates.
With the emoji reactions and downvotes, Twitter is giving itself a whole host of new ways to collect data about the quality of a tweet – whether or not it’s worthy to be viewed by the wider public – and that’s going to come in useful in regards to automatic moderation and user feeling.
There’s no doubt that Twitter can be an incredibly entertaining, informative, educational, and fun digital place to be – but it’s also true that its a no-place for a feeble mind as abusive and negative comments are widespread on the platform as well, especially when it comes to certain topics and savage tweets.
The reactions if effected would add something that Twitter doesn’t necessarily have a lot of at the moment: nuance. The options to like retweet and reply are of course very useful, but sometimes you do want to react to a tweet with empathy or start a round of applause, and so on.
While any change to Twitter is likely to rile some of its worldwide userbase, these two incoming changes look like a well-thought-out, helpful addition to the functionality of the microblogging and social networking service – and we’re looking forward to being able to try them out.
