What would Twitter look like, if Elon flushed all likes, throws x Likes in the sytem and gave it a go? Every Like has to taken from the system and there are positive and negative points just like here or Reddit. If you don’t have Likes anymore you have to dislike something else you liked in the past. It would be entertaining to watch social scoring and fighting for likes in this already fucked up social network.
Social media is supposed to be the digital commons. Without a dislike button, then the media cannot be a commons. You go to the town square and start spouting offensive bullshit you’re going to get the proverbial rotten tomatoes thrown at you, mockery, and getting shunned.
With only having a like button, Twitter amplifies the message of bad actors and encourages rage responses. That’s the point though isn’t it? Engagement metrics to sell rage at a discount instead of the whole normal population buying a post with dislikes and moving on.