We’ve learned Twitter is rolling out a downvote button amidst a broader test of the new functionality, a first for the platform.

The initial test for a downvote button was actually originally experimented with a limited outing back in July 2021, only now Twitter is rolling out a downvote button to what they’re saying is a “global audience.”

Twitter said the new expansion to a larger, worldwide userbase comes after their initial feedback on the limited test was mostly positive.

“We are still in the learning stage of this experiment and are looking to gain a better understanding of how Reply Downvoting could help us better surface the most relevant content for people on Twitter in the future,” the company said.

Competitor sites like Reddit have had a downvote button since its founding, but Facebook tried a downvote option years ago and never rolled it out to their entire audience.

As with any new functionality on Twitter, the new downvote button could end up affecting the order in which tweets get shown on your feed, but for now the downvotes are private and don’t affect how replies are ordered.

This could naturally change as the platform usually only adds things that corporate media wants to further shield themselves from criticism, as well as limit what is allowed to be discussed or shared on their platforms.

Despite the potential for downvotes to make Twitter into even more of an echo chamber, users have responded positively with the new functionality so far.

“A majority of our users shared that the reason they clicked the down arrow was either because the reply was perceived as offensive, or because they perceived it as not relevant, or both,” the company said in an update.

They added users now getting a downvote button “agree it improves the quality of conversations on Twitter.”

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