What Does TikTok’s Dislike Button Really Do?

Last month, TikTok rolled out its comment dislike button globally to all users. Essentially, it allows users of the popular social media app to identify comments that they believe could be irrelevant or even inappropriate. However, those dislikes won’t be public nor will the commenter know that their comment was disliked.

The feature was first slowly rolled out in April, and after receiving feedback from users, the dislike option has now gone service-wide. TikTok has suggested the dislike button is simply a way to flag comments that could be spam, or don’t make sense in the context of a video that has been posted. In addition, users on TikTok can still use the same processes for reporting comments that break the rules – such as hate speech, and bullying.

On the surface, it actually doesn’t seem to really offer much, but some experts suggest otherwise.

“TikTok’s release of the new dislike button seems like a bad move initially, but it is quite promising,” said Julianna Kirschner, Ph.D., lecturer for the Master of Communication Management program at the University of Southern California.

“The dislike button, as TikTok designed it, allows users to contribute feedback on platform content,” she noted, suggesting that the dislike response allows users to question the relevance of TikTok content by disliking it. The function isn’t spread widely to the public, yet it is different than the reporting function where users can alert TikTok to particularly egregious posts.

“The dislike button is a progressive response that will likely shape content over time; whereas, the reporting function is immediate. The dislike button is proactive, and the reporting function is reactive,” Kirschner continued.

“Downvoting on TikTok, and most other social media, serve simply as a moderation tool rather than any change to content that is served up on algorithms, which I find most people assume is the purpose,” added Dr. Dustin York, associate professor of communication at Maryville University. “Downvoting comments is an easy crowdsourced way to remove bad actors from the platform – one troll at a time.”

Changing The Development Process

Beyond what the dislike button does, the method in which it is being employed is also notable. TikTok has been reportedly working on the functionality since 2020, only rolling it out slowly earlier this year. Clearly, the company didn’t rush in with a new feature but explored how it could be best utilized.

“While adding a dislike button clearly improves TikTok’s ability to provide a better user experience through content moderation, it could also pave the way for new feature development based on dislike patterns. Building products, especially software, is an iterative art. Feedback is an integral part of this process that allows product development teams to identify areas for improvement and prioritize new features, and we all love new features,” explained Nick Suwyn, CEO and co-founder of Promineo Tech.

The dislike button could also lead to improvements as obvious as tweaking TikTok’s algorithm so users see less of what they are not interested in, to less obvious features such as how users might be able to interact with content and other users, said Suwyn.

“The data collected could also continue to elevate TikTok as a rapidly expanding, leading marketing platform by not only giving users more of what they want to see, but also by helping marketers understand what it is they want to see, or rather what it is not,” Suwyn continued. “When feedback is analyzed and responded to correctly, it provides a better experience for everyone, and with simple, single-click feedback baked into a platform like this, it makes it easy and natural for users as compared to soliciting feedback outside of the app experience. It’s a great, low-lift opportunity for TikTok to advance frequent and rapid feature development and improvement.”

But What Does It Actually Do?

This brings us back to what a dislike button, where the actual “dislikes” aren’t seen, actually does. The short answer is that it can allow commentators to voice a concern without creating further drama. As York suggested, it is about removing bad actors (trolls) from the platform – and possibly without a massive response that takes away from the actual video’s content.

It could have other repercussions.

“The content that is deemed ‘inauthentic’ could lose steam, because they may experience less online traffic due to the influx of dislikes,” said Kirschner. “Furthermore, some controversial content may receive mixed responses, such as having a similar count of likes and dislikes. It is currently unclear how TikTok will respond to these cases.”

Moreover, some content producers might lose real income due to a wave of private dislikes of which they might not be aware. That could even create real-world consequences for those making a living on the platform.

Finally, TikTok might experience a cultural shift where certain voices might be censored because their comments do not fit the established norms, suggested Kirschner. “This can be a problem, especially when a platform like TikTok sells itself as a space for sharing ideas. Over time, sponsors might find other content creators to sell their merchandise or services if their initial influencer fails to produce results.”