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29 March 2024

Will Facebook add 'dislike' button? Click here

Facebook could soon introduce series of new buttons to express varied emotions (Supplied)

Published
By Joseph George

A few months ago a friend had posted pictures of his dad who had passed away. The post received about 25 comments and a dozen or so likes.

Not that the users who liked the post were happy about his dad passing away. But, Facebook currently has just one option to express one’s opinion without writing a word and that’s the like button.

However, Facebook could soon be introducing a series of new buttons where you could express varied emotions. But the most controversial of all is the ‘dislike’ button.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who spoke in his second public town hall meeting at the company headquarters in California indicated just that.

Although there has been a massive demand, Zuckerberg indicated that Facebook might just stop short of introducing the dislike button as it could turn out to be a marketing disaster. Not only will it scare away brands who will probably fear a backlash from dislikes but also individual users might stop posting for fear of being disliked.

Nevertheless, clamour for dislike button continues to grow.

Michael Nady who signed off a Change.org petition demanding the dislike button on Facebook says, “Dislike button is very important in making Facebook less fake than its current status. From a psychological perspective, continually repressing negative emotions you feel when you see stuff you don't like gives you a bad mood even though you may not be aware of where it comes from; or may even have physiological reactions like increasing blood pressure.”

According to him dislike is a very simple way to create a vote on a page where you can distinguish people who clearly object what you have stated versus those who feel neutral to it. “The current workaround for this is to have people comment to show their dislike, which results in too much noise in the comments section,” he adds.

Addressing the gathering Zukerberg noted that Facebook might introduce other buttons that might still communicate that you do not agree with a post without saying it in such a harsh note.

“But we need to figure out a good way to do it,” he noted.