After years of speculation – and a lot of begging from users – Facebook may finally be working on a “dislike” button, or something like it.
Much to the delight of “like” button boycotters everywhere, CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that the social network is very close to unveiling the long awaited alternative during Facebook’s live town hall Q&A session Tuesday.
“People have asked about the ‘dislike’ button for many years, and probably hundreds of people have asked about this, and today is a special day because today is the day that I actually get to say we are working on it, and are very close to shipping a test of it,” he said.
But Zuckerberg was quick to note that the new feature would not be used as a way for users to “downvote” their friends posts, but for users to express empathy.
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“Not every moment is a good moment. If you share something that’s sad like a refugee crisis that touches you, or a family member passes away, it may not be comfortable to ‘like’ that post,” Zuckerberg said.
“I do think it’s important to give people more options than liking it.”
Although there have been growing calls for Facebook to add a so-called “dislike” button over the years, many users are already expressing concern about the new feature on Zuckerberg’s Facebook page.
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Some users are concerned that the button could be used as a form of cyberbullying, while others simply don’t want any negativity on their social stream.
“I think the dislike button should be optional to have, and be based down to one’s preference, and should be on the privacy settings so that it can be available for certain things, so that no one can ‘dislike’ something that is personal to you, like a picture of your family or girlfriend etc.,” wrote one user.
“It should be something to do with giving feedback rather than generating negativity.”
Other reports have suggested that Facebook may instead roll out a feature that allows users to express a range of options expressing varying types of emotions.
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