This ever happened to you?
You spend several hours creating some really awesome content for TikTok – it’s something you’re really proud of. You post it and get a ton of likes and positive feedback, but you’re still annoyed because some troll makes a completely irrelevant comment about how they don’t like your lipstick, or some poacher shoots off a tip to go check out their new vid with hopes to steal some of your fans, or a spammer posts a hard sell for Cialis.
Well, guess what, TikTok has finally done something right: they’re weeding out the weirdos.
If you’re still doing business on TikTok even after all the fire they’ve come under for privacy concerns from the Federal Trade Commission, at least you can be content that they’re doing everything in their power to rid the platform of morons that don’t know how to act in a public space.
As reported on by Tech Crunch, the platform has been working a long time (all the way back to 2020) on a way to weed out these undesirables and are now globally rolling out the comment dislike button.
🔔 New feature incoming. Earlier this year, we started to test a new way people could identify comments they believe to be irrelevant or inappropriate. After some testing, we’re releasing it globally. 📲 Read on for 3 fast facts
— TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) September 23, 2022
Here’s what I like about the feature: it’s sneaky.
If someone finds a comment irrelevant or inappropriate on your video, all they do is click the thumbs down button. It won’t be public; the commenter won’t know and won’t be notified. But the little wizards behind the scenes at TikTok will know! And supposedly they’ll do something about it, so it’s a kinder, gentler, easier way to get rid of those who don’t know how to play in the sandbox.
Sometimes of course, someone NEEDS to be reported if they’ve used hate speech, harassment, bullying etc. and this new update won’t replace that feature, but it will be useful for flagging those folks that just don’t have a clue. Normally I’m not a fan of the down vote button – who needs more negativity in the world? – but in this case, with it being private I’m on board because it’s gently policing the space without drama.
TikTok said it best: ” We’ve created it as a new way to hear feedback directly from our community. This allows us to better identify irrelevant or inappropriate comments, which helps us foster a comment section for genuine and authentic interactions.”
Photo credit: iStock.com/hapabapa
—
Alyssa Collins hails from Minnesota, where snowy days were the perfect excuse to stay warm inside and write. Over the years, she turned that joy into a career and has authored numerous articles for various publications (under pen names). Email Alyssa via alyssa@ynot.com.
