Twitter testing upvote, downvote buttons on replies to tweets

Twitter is testing a new feature where users will be able to upvote and downvote replies on tweets, saying this is still not a 'dislike' button.

Currently under testing with a select group of iOS users, the feature is available in various styles (up and down arrows, a heart icon and a down arrow, and thumbs up and thumbs down icons).

"Some of you on iOS may see different options to up or down vote on replies. We're testing this to understand the types of replies you find relevant in a convo, so we can work on ways to show more of them," Twitter posted on Thursday.

"Your downvotes aren't public, while your upvotes will be shown as likes," the company informed.

According to the micro-blogging website, the experiment is just a test for research right now and is not a "dislike button".

"Your downvotes are visible to you only and votes won't change the order of replies," the company said.

Twitter earlier experimented with ideas like reactions that appeared to mimic the emoji reactions Facebook uses for its posts.

In November last year, Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour had said that the company is exploring a dislike button or a downvote capability.

Beykpour said that dislike buttons or a downvote capability is "something we're (Twitter) exploring".