Instagram plans to introduce a ‘dislike’ button to anonymously downvote comments

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announces plans to introduce a ‘dislike’ button on the social media platform.

Many social media platforms have a way for users to like content or comments but they mostly avoid negativity through a lack of a ‘dislike’ option. Instagram could be about to switch this up, however, with plans to introduce a ‘dislike’ option for comments.

Some users may have already noticed a new down arrow next to comments. It allows users to dislike a comment under a post, working similarly to Reddit’s up- and down-vote system.

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri has " target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed on Threads that the new feature is still in testing and will not roll out to everyone just yet. Down votes will be anonymous and there will be no visible count of the number of negative votes cast, either to the public or the commenter themselves.

What it does mean is that comments with a lot of dislikes may be filtered and pushed down the list of comments.

“I want to be clear: this is a test, there is no dislike count, nor will anyone know if you tap the button,” Mosseri wrote. “Eventually, we may integrate this signal into comments ranking to move disliked comments lower down.

“Our hope is that this might help make comments more friendly on Instagram,” he added.

The goal of the new feature is to “help people better control their Instagram experience and what they’re seeing on the app”, continued a Meta spokesperson.

“We’re testing a new button next to each comment on a Reel or Feed post for people to privately signal they don’t feel good about that particular comment or find it relevant,” the statement added.

“We’re testing this with a very small group of people to start. Later, we may also test moving these comments lower down in the comments section to help create a better experience”.

Other features recently launched by Instagram include an option to ‘start fresh’ and new text tools for photo posts.

Featured image: Pexels

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