Tech

Facebook finally (sorta, kinda) added a Dislike button

Facebook is one step closer to adding a dislike button.

Photo of Tim Sampson

Tim Sampson

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Despite Facebook’s penchant for assimilating new features to stay on top of the social media game, the company has always shied away from adding one of users’ most requested features: an antithetical alternative to its ubiquitous Like button. But now, an update to the site’s messenger app gives users the option to dislike what their friends have to say in private.

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The Dislike sticker—a blue thumb’s down—is available as a free add-on in the app’s Sticker Store. A Like sticker was already available in messenger, but Dislike (along with a slew of other stickers) were created during a recent Facebook hackathon.

Despite Dislike’s inclusion in messenger, Facebook engineers have resisted the call from some to add the same feature to the site at-large. During a Reddit AMA in April, Facebook engineer Bob Baldwin said the social network aims to keep interactions more positive.

“Like is the lightest-weight way to express positive sentiment,” Baldwin said. “I don’t think adding a light-weight way to express negative sentiment would be that valuable. I know there are times when it’d make sense, like when a friend is having a rough day, or got into a car accident like my sister yesterday (she’s OK!). For these times, a nice comment from a friend goes a long way.”

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Still, the company has sought ways for users to simply express more nuanced emotions besides merely liking a status. It was reported recently that Facebook engineers have been mulling over whether to add a sympathize button to sadder posts where the Like button can seem emotionally tone deaf.

H/T BGR | Illustration by Fernando Alfonso III

 
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