Facebook is currently testing a feature that allows its users to upvote and downvote the content which would be very similar to Reddit. The company haven’t made any announcements but some beta users have been sharing pictures of the feature to approve or disapprove a persons comment.
The Co-Founder of Reddit has tweeted saying that he was “Flattered”. However this is hardly a ringing endorsement, as the old saying goes imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It seems founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is trying to improve the users discussion on the platform.
“People have told us they would like to see better public discussions on Facebook, and want spaces where people with different opinions can have more constructive dialogue,” a Facebook spokesperson told CNET. To that end, we’re running a small test in New Zealand which allows people to upvote or downvote comments on public Page posts. Our hope is that this feature will make it easier for us to create such spaces, by ranking the comments that readers believe deserve to rank highest, rather than the comments that get the strongest emotional reaction.”
The problem is that Facebook might turn into a news sharing site with users competing for upvotes or getting trolled with downvotes.
Many experts are saying that the tool should be viewed in the light of the firms efforts to change the way the users engage with the content on the platform.
Jack Kent, Analyst at IHS Markit said,
“Given the current debate about Facebook’s role in public online discourse and news, it makes sense that the platform is trialling different ways for users to interact with content in a public setting,” he said.
He also said that the company needs to maintain a balance between positive and negative feedback thus maintaining the debate.
“While the company has been quite vocal in its opposition to launching a ‘dislike’ feature, it did expand its options from simply liking posts and content to a range of emojis in 2016,” Mr Kent said.
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