TikTok has confirmed in a blog post that it is testing a new way for users to identify comments they consider inappropriate. Users will be able to flag comments they consider inappropriate via a private dislike button. The new test is available to select users in some regions, excluding the US.
Once you dislike a comment, the dislike will not appear publicly and commenters will not be informed that their comment has been disliked. TikTok said commenters and other users will not be able to see how many times a comment has been disliked by you.
The new button, according to TikTok, will serve as a way for users to flag comments that are irrelevant to them. The Chinese app emphasized that the button is not a report tool. TikTok urges users to make use of the standard reporting channels when reporting comments, harassment, bullying, and hate speech.
“We’ve started testing a way to let individuals identify comments they believe to be irrelevant or inappropriate,” the company announced in a blog post about the new test. “This community feedback will add to the range of factors we already use to help keep the comment section consistently relevant and a place for genuine engagement.”
TikTok is expanding its test of Stories to more users. The feature is now available to more users after the company had previously confirmed the pilot test. TikTok’s version of Stories is like Instagram’s which only last for 24 hours after which it disappears.
You can view stories by navigating to a user’s profile and clicking his profile picture. Stories can also appear on the For You page. You can see the number of people that viewed your stories, but cannot see who viewed it. TikTok’s version of stories allows you to like and leave a public comment, which is not the case on Instagram.
To post a story according to TechCrunch, click the “post” button on the bottom center navigation bar of the app. You can scroll to a “quick” camera mode that lets you post a photo or a video to your story. TechCrunch reports that the videos have the same creation options as normal TikTok videos, which allows you to reply to comments, use filers and many more. For photos however, the functionality is different—there is no need for a recording timer. It is however, still possible to add music and effects to photos.
