The “Like” button has become a major part of our lives thanks to Facebook, and soon it will have a friend: The “Dislike” button.
During a Q&A today, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social network is currently developing a “Dislike” button that will be used for “expressing empathy”.
“People have asked about the ‘dislike’ button for many years… and probably hundreds of people have asked about this. 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.
“What they really want is the ability to express empathy. Not every moment is a good moment,” he told viewers who were able to watch his announcement via a live stream.
The “Dislike” button will change how we use Facebook in a big way. No longer will we be using the “Like” button to acknowledge we’ve read things about serious injuries, deaths, and other bad news from our friends and family. Gone are the days of writing “Dislike” in the comments of a post. With the “Dislike” button we’ll be able to show our empathy without having to press a button telling someone we “like” the bad news.
Zuckerberg didn’t offer a timeline for when the “Dislike” button will launch for everyone, but he did say they’ll be testing it with a small group of users in the near future.
Last month Facebook experienced their first day with 1 billion active users. A simple addition like a “Dislike” button will change the way so many people use Facebook.