Facebook lets users downvote comments on test

Facebook is testing an option in the United States to downvote messages and make them hidden. Allows users to indicate that they find a post offensive, misleading or off topic.

Facebook emphasized in a statement to American media, including Cnet, that it is not a ‘dislike’ button. “We are investigating functionality that will allow people to give us feedback on comments on public pages. The test is only running for a small group of people in the US,” the statement reads.

The designation offensive, misleading or off topic does not reach the person who posted the message, but is intended to give Facebook insight into how users rate these types of messages negatively. The move is part of Facebook’s strategy to foster meaningful interaction between users and serve people valuable communications. Part of this is, for example, also to combat fake news.

Facebook has so far not wanted to introduce a dislike button, because it says it does not want to be a community for simply upvoting and downvoting. The social network did introduce reaction emoji with buttons for, for example, sadness and anger in 2015.