Facebook Experimenting Downvote Button for Comment Moderation

Back in 2016, Facebook subdued the ‘dislike’ button demand with reactions. The whole activity was to do away from misleading or offensive comments and make Facebook a safe haven. But, unfortunately, it brought little respite.

Now, the social networking site is experimenting with a new system, called Downvote, that can be used against the questionable comments. The option will allow users to regulate public behaviour on the platform and report any misappropriate content to the authority.

Also Read: Antutu lists Samsung Galaxy C10 Plus with Snapdragon 660 Chipset

Facebook Downvote Option

As reported by The Daily Beast, the “downvote” button will appear underneath the comments, alongside the Reactions and reply option. The feature sounds similar to Reddit’s community-controlled comment system but works differently.

Facebook downvote should not be taken in its literal sense. “We are exploring a feature for people to give us feedback about comments on public page posts. This is running for a small set of people in the US only,” a company spokesperson said.

Also Read: Upcoming Nokia Phones Expected to Launch At MWC 2018

Unlike Reddit, a user can’t just downvote any comment that he/she thinks is misleading or inappropriate. The feature will only allow people to report an inappropriate comment to Facebook without seeing how many downvotes a comment has already got.

Keeping the downvote count hidden from its users will benefit Facebook to gather information in a non-biased manner. Even a comment with lots of downvotes won’t get buried into oblivion in the way Reddit’s downvoted posts are.

Yet again the option should not be confused as an alternative to ‘dislike’. “We are not testing a dislike button,” the same source added. The company argues that the button is too much negative.