TikTok is getting a dislike button for comments in a new test allowing some folks to privately flag irrelevant or otherwise inappropriate comments on their videos.
- Some TikTok users are seeing a new dislike button next to video comments
- Use it to downvote a comment you deem irrelevant or inappropriate
- Your input helps TikTok keep the commenting section relevant
TikTok starts testing a dislike button for comments
The company has confirmed that it has kicked off testing of a private dislike button for comments, which may or may not expand to more users in the coming weeks depending on feedback. The button is private, meaning any dislikes you attach to comments are not visible to others. “To avoid creating ill-feeling between community members or demoralize creators, only the person who registered a dislike on a comment will be able to see that they have done so,” the company clarifies.
Social media consultant Matt Navarra first reported on the new button on Twitter.
“We’ve started testing a way to let individuals identify comments they believe to be irrelevant or inappropriate,” the company confirmed in a post on the TikTok blog.
How disliking TikTok comments works
For those included in the test, the dislike button appears alongside the existing option to report comments for bullying, harassment, etc. Rival platforms provide similar buttons for downvoting particular comments. Both YouTube and Reddit, for example, offer thumbs-down buttons for comments. Twitter is apparently testing a similar feature of its own. Read: How to loop YouTube videos and playlists
If your TikTok clips are getting lots of negative comments, the app may prompt you to review its comment filtering and bulk block and delete options. The Chinese video platform claims it took down more than 85 million videos between October and December 2021 over community guideline violations. That’s a lot of videos to disappear from the platform in just three months.
TikTok is testing a ‘Dislike’ button for comments pic.twitter.com/Pv8anV5fDh
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) January 27, 2022
With the dislike button for comments, TikTok hopes to weed out inappropriate comments. “This community feedback will add to the range of factors we already use to help keep the comment section consistently relevant and a place for genuine engagement,” the company added. Read: How to change your TikTok username
Disliking a TikTok video
Disliking a particular comment that you may find “irrelevant or inappropriate” improves your experience because you’re helping the app better understand what kind of comments you want to see. Regular TikTok users could point out that the app has supported disliking a video for some time now and they’d be right. Disliking a TikTok video basically improves the quality of your feed and provides you with content that suits your tastes. You can dislike a TikTok video by long-pressing on the video in the app, then choosing “Not interested” from the menu.