Instagram has officially confirmed that it is trialing a new ‘dislike’ button that enables users to downvote a comment they find distasteful or irrelevant on the platform. The dislike button will be present in both Feed posts and Reels. The Meta-owned photo and video-sharing platform will not disclose the dislike count, but it will factor into the ranking of comments. The dislike button is currently available to a limited number of users and there is no set release date for the feature at this time.
Instagram Tests New Dislike Button for Comments
In a Thread post, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri revealed that the social media platform has begun testing a new feature that enables users to indicate their disapproval of comments on posts and Reels using a private dislike button. “This provides users with a private means to indicate that they aren’t pleased with that specific comment,” he stated.
The platform will not display the dislike count, and no one will be aware if a user has disliked a comment, although Mosseri mentions that in the future, the company might incorporate this feedback into comment rankings to demote disliked comments.
“Our goal is that this could help create a more positive atmosphere in comments on Instagram,” Mosseri mentioned. The dislike button is located next to comments on a post or Reel, and some users can already see and utilize the new button on Instagram.
The dislike button on Instagram resembles the downvote button found on Reddit. YouTube had a similar functionality for videos, but it discontinued showing the number of dislikes on a video back in 2021.
In addition to the dislike feature, the Meta-owned social media platform is reportedly also developing Community Notes. It is also working on launching an Edits app for high-quality video recording and streamlining the editing process.
