Elon Musk announced that they will develop a system that will qualify mentions automatically on Twitter. The new owner of the social network, which has been the focus of attention in recent weeks due to layoffs, continues to propose ideas to improve the platform. The most recent has to do with responses to tweets, which could receive a new classification system.
The Chief Tweet responded to a user who asked about the ability to use upvotes and downvotes to measure the value of a mention or the sentiment of the users. “We’re working on something that should sort responses automatically,” Elon Musk responded. The implementation of a new system would be in the magnate’s sights, although it is unknown when or in what way it could be implemented.
Currently, Twitter uses a button to downvote responses that are not considered relevant. The social network was one of the last to offer an alternative to classify its content and he did it in an unhelpful way. The button downvote is only available for mentions and like YouTube, the downvote count it is not public and it is not shared with the author of the tweet.
Twitter began experimenting with upvoting and downvoting in mid-2021. The social network published variants of this system that included the little hand up and down that we see on other social networks like YouTube or Reddit. In the end, he decided on a unique button to qualify the mentions that debuted in early 2022.
Elon Musk will improve a broken feature on Twitter
The presence of buttons for voting on content is a useful feature of social media. In recent times, platforms like YouTube have opted to hide downvotes on videos in an attempt to curb bullying. Although it seems to be a noble intention, the most benefited have been the film or video game studios, who do not have to deal with the bombardment that occurs when content is not liked by the audience.
Twitter operates along the same lines as YouTube and does not display a count of negatives.; the effect it has is also not known with certainty. One would expect that if a response is filled with downvotes It would go to the bottom of the conversation, however, the social network has not confirmed this. The only ones mentions that are hidden almost automatically are those with insults and sensitive content.
Some feared that the downvote button would be used to carry out attacks against minorities. The truth is that the lack of clarity in its operation made it pass without pain or glory. Now, with the company taking a new turn thanks to Elon Musk, we may see a shakeup of the voting system.
If Elon Musk’s intention is to make the operation of Twitter and its algorithms transparent, it would be important to improve the voting system. added to the button downvote, the social network offers a “quality filter” that eliminates duplicate content or automated accounts in your mentions. There is also the possibility of filtering certain accounts or topics that do not interest you, although this requires additional steps in the configuration menu.