Facebook is “thinking about” a dislike button

Yes, it’s true, Facebook is considering different ways users can express their feelings beyond the like button! During Facebook’s second live Q&A session yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg answered questions from the crowd and the first question was a good one: is Facebook thinking about adding a dislike button?

Zuckerberg answered the question by saying “We’re thinking about it.” He went on to say that he didn't want a dislike button to become a way for users to shame others on the site, on the other hand a dislike button would make sense for instances when users wanted to express themselves, but didn't feel comfortable using the like button.

Imagine if something sad happens, like a family member passes away, you might not want to like the status. The company is thinking about “other sentiments” and how it could use these with a single button or easy way similar to the way you “like”, but this is something that won’t be coming in the near future.

Zuckerberg then said if you don’t want to like the status you can always just comment on it!

Facebook is trying to figure out a way right now to add a dislike button so it ends up being a force for good, not a force for bad. A dislike button or other negative sentiment could easily be used for the wrong reasons and nobody wants that! This isn't the first time Zuckerberg has thought about a dislike button either; he made similar comments about it way back in 2010.

So he has said explicitly that there WON’T be a dislike button, but they are thinking about other (better) ways to express this. And even though they have definitely had conversations about it, you shouldn't expect to see anything on your newsfeed right now.

"We don’t have anything that’s coming soon," Zuckerberg said.

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Written By: Christine Romans
Copy Writer at The Computer Guyz Cape Town