Instagram will soon allow you to dislike comments on posts
What's the story
Instagram has confirmed that it is testing a new feature to downvote or dislike comments.
The update was first spotted by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi last month, and now the company has officially acknowledged its existence.
The 'dislike' button will appear on both Feed posts and Reels, giving users a way to express their disapproval of certain comments.
Feature
A tool for comment ranking
Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, clarified on Threads that the firm won't show a dislike count and no one will be notified if their comment has been disliked.
He further explained that the end goal is to bring dislikes into the comment ranking system.
"Eventually, we may integrate this signal into comments ranking to move disliked comments lower down," Mosseri stated.
User experience
Meta aims to improve comment quality with new feature
Meta, Instagram's parent company, said that this test is part of their efforts to improve the quality of the comment section.
"We're working on ways to help people better control their Instagram experience and what they're seeing on the app," a company spokesperson said.
The 'dislike' button's introduction is similar to Reddit's long-standing downvote mechanism for sorting comments on the basis of upvotes and downvotes.
User concerns
'Dislike' button sparks concerns over potential for bullying
The introduction of the 'dislike' button on Instagram has sparked controversy among users.
Some fear that it could encourage bullying and negativity, potentially exacerbating mental health issues, especially among young people.
However, Meta clarified that the feature is designed to privately express disapproval of a comment, possibly helping content creators manage and mitigate harsh comments on their posts.