TikTok is testing a dislike button, but only for comments

TikTok has begun testing a dislike button for comments in order to “foster kindness and safety” on the social media platform. 

Dubbed as a “way to let individuals identify comments they believe to be irrelevant or inappropriate,” by TikTok in a new blog post, this new feature, that’s currently in testing, will supposedly help “keep the comment section consistently relevant and a place for genuine engagement,” according to the social media giant. 

Unlike other platforms, TikTok won’t be making the dislike count on a comment publicly visible, not even to the original author of the comment, as instead only the person who registered the dislike on the comment will be able to see that they’ve done so. According to the social media giant, this is being done to “avoid creating ill-feeling between community members or demoralize creators.”

With the dislike count of comments being hidden from the app’s users, TikTok is taking the task of suppressing negative or unhelpful comments into their own hands, rather than leaving it up to the court of public opinion.

In the blog post announcing this feature, TikTok states that the feedback they receive via dislikes will be added to the “range of factors we already use to help keep the comment section consistently relevant and a place for genuine engagement,” so we’ll just have to trust in the app’s algorithm. 

Alongside the new comment dislike button that’s currently being tested, TikTok also announced that they’re “experimenting with reminders” so creators don’t forget that comment filtering and bulk block and delete options are available on the app, should their community really need some cleaning up.