Elon Musk’s X May Be Testing ‘Dislike’ Button on iOS as a Way to Downvote Posts

New Delhi: X (formerly known as Twitter) may be testing a new feature aimed at increasing engagement on the platform by allowing users to downvote posts on iPhones. According to claims on social media, the feature might appear as a ‘dislike’ option represented by a heartbroken icon, rather than a Reddit-like downward arrow. Initially reported in 2021, recent discoveries of code references related to the feature suggest that its testing is still ongoing.

Dislike Button on X

According to a post on the microblogging platform by user @aaronp613, the ability to dislike posts could soon be introduced 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 heart icon used for likes. Strings of text also appear in the app’s code, with phrases such as “Do you want to downvote this post?” and “Downvote this post.” However, it remains unclear if the downvote feature will be available for both posts and replies, as the code only mentions “posts.” X, formerly known as Twitter, first announced testing a downvotes feature on iOS in 2021 as part of a “small research experiment” that added upvote and downvote options for replies. The platform confirmed that downvotes were not public, while likes could be seen by everyone. This remained the case until a recent update made likes hidden.

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.