Social media and tech news Web sites are abuzz with speculation over the implications of Facebook introducing what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called a "dislike button" in a town hall-style Q&A session, streamed live from the social network's headquarters and posted on the CEO's Facebook page, on Tuesday.
"People have asked about the dislike button for many years... today is the day I can say we're working on it and shipping a test of it," said Zuckerberg, adding the aim of the button will not be to create a Reddit-style up- or down-voting forum. Rather, he said, it will give users the option to express empathy or support in instances when liking a post feels inappropriate, such as when users post about the death of a loved one, or the Syrian refugee crisis.
Despite this explanation, many users took to the video's comments section to express their glee at the imminent opportunity to "dislike" content, while others bemoaned that a "dislike" button would foster cyber-bullying.
More options needed
Tech journalists have offered more detailed comment about why an extra reaction button would be a good move for the social network.
While "liking" a post is broadly understood to signal a more complex range of sentiments than simple satisfaction, "a thumbs up is inherently goofy," says Brian Barrett for Wired.
"The last time an upward-pointing thumb carried any emotional weight was in the late days of the Roman Colosseum," he quips, adding "the mental contortions required to read a thumbs up as 'I like that you shared this horrible thing'" are often uncomfortable.
Vested interests
Yet the algorithm Facebook uses to curate its Newsfeed feature hinges heavily on "likes" - the easiest and most common interaction on Facebook - to determine what content is most interesting or desirable to users, notes Victor Luckerson for Time.
This means posts users care or feel strongly about, but feel uncomfortable "liking", can be easily overshadowed by more superficial but "likeable" content, like "adorable pet photos and ice bucket challenges," he says.
Adding another reaction button to register users' interest in "less rosy" content could help Facebook tailor users' Newsfeeds to feature less light-hearted "distraction" and more content users are interested in and emotionally engaged with, speculates Luckerson. "And that begets more users spending more time on the site, which begets more ads, which begets more dollars for Zuckerberg and Facebook's shareholders," he continues.
Yet despite its positive uses, a "dislike" button or feature offering similarly simply-interpreted negative sentiments could be a revenue disaster for Facebook, suggests Chris Taylor for Mashable.
A high number of "dislikes" on advertisers' or celebrities' content could cause enough embarrassment to turn them away from the social network, and even the possibility of this happening could be a deterrent, Taylor notes.
Poking fun
Facebook's news also spawned joking listicles of other buttons Facebook "needs" to classify its content.
Options offered by Stuart Dredge for The Guardian include "It's raining here I hate you" as a "catch-all response for any photograph that includes a blue sky, water, a cocktail and a pair of legs"; "your baby looks like all the other babies!" and "Dad, this is obviously a hoax."
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