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X , formerly Twitter , could be bring back a downvote feature for situation — something it hadpreviously tested back in 2021 , ahead of Elon Musk’sacquisition of the societal internet . At the time of the original experiment , Twitter had screen both upvoting and downvoting clitoris , alike to how users can vote on the societal forums site Reddit . But now , codification references foundin the X iOS app indicate that the company could be considering adding downvotes for response only to improve how they ’re ranked .
The computer code was first spotted by reverse engine driver Aaron Perris,@aaronp613 on X , who on a regular basis reveal Modern app features ahead of launch ; the code references were discovered in Tuesday ’s iOS app update , Perris told TechCrunch .
It look like X might be bring back the downvote button for replies?pic.twitter.com/1s2LzhH7WN
ascertain a reference in an app ’s code about a new feature or functionality does n’t necessarily signify the companionship is planning to bring the feature to the public . company , and peculiarly societal media apps , internally test novel features all the metre before decide whether to flesh out a task or trash it .
However , in this case , at least one X railroad engineer as well as ex proprietor Elon Musk have now commented on the potential addition .
consort toJay Baxter , senior staff machine learning engineer at X who work on Community Notes , the idea to leverage a negative signal could be utile , as it ’s something that works for X ’s crowdsourced fact - checker feature , too .
He explains that if you plainly added up all the negative signal , you could get a “ hivemind like Reddit . ” But one way to improve this organisation would be to only downrank those posts that had negative ratings from hoi polloi who typically discord , he enjoin on X.
This is similar to the system X use with Community Notes , a feature that requires consensus among multitude who do n’t typically tally before its fact - checks go live .
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Community Notes would n’t operate well without negative rating signal . But you have to be smart about how you use them . If you naively add them all up , you ’ll get a hivemind like Reddit . One way : only downrank if you see negative evaluation from multitude who typically disagreehttps://t.co/YfX7Fpm8ka
While Baxter did n’t specifically confirm that downvotes were in evolution , he said that Community Notes relies on secret ratings to avoid a “ hivemind ” and that the private evaluation data was released anonymously after 48 minute to make the military rating public without “ poisoning the rating process ” itself .
Musk alsochimed in on the threadwith a one - Christian Bible comment : “ True . ”
Using a consensus - construction algorithm to rank spot could avail Adam highlight the better replies in longsighted threads and could inspire other companies to use interchangeable tools on their platforms . Already , X ’s Community Notes feature has inspire YouTube to try its own version , simply called Notes . In a twenty-four hour period and age where the great unwashed do n’t always agree on the true statement , it ’s a way to center what “ most masses ” agree on as the accepted fact , while still cite sources . But it ’s managed by the social connection ’s users , not by a central office .
Downvotes may not be the only change coming to X.Another post from Perris now floating around Xshows a user interface that blot out engagement button , such as the “ Like ” and “ Repost ” clit , by nonpayment in party favour of a Modern motion - based menu to access these and other actions .
