What It Would Take to Make a ‘Dislike’ Button Work on Facebook
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — There are some times when clicking “like” on a friend’s Facebook status doesn’t feel appropriate.
A bad day. A loved one lost. A break up.
It only seems natural that a “dislike” button could solve the conundrum of wanting to empathize but not seem inappropriate by clicking “like.”
The idea has been on Mark Zuckerberg’s radar for a while, he said. In 2010, he told ABC News’ Diane Sawyer that Facebook would “definitely think about” adding a dislike button.
“People definitely seem to want it,” Zuckerberg said.
Four years later, Zuckerberg says Facebook is still “thinking about” adding the oft-requested button. At a town hall meeting on Thursday, the CEO revealed he has some reservations about the feature.
“There are two things that it can mean,” Zuckerberg said of the potential button, which could be used in a mean spirited way or to express empathy.
Finding how to limit it to the latter is the challenge.
Zuckerberg said he doesn’t want the button to turn into a “voting mechanism” or something that isn’t “socially valuable.”
“Often people will tell us they don’t feel comfortable pressing ‘like,'” Zuckerberg said. “What’s the right way to make it so people can easier express a wide range of emotions?”
One suggestion percolating online: Roll out the feature under a different name.
However, an “empathy button” just may not have the same ring to it as “dislike.”
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