A Facebook “dislike” button has long been on the wishlists of Facebookistan residents, as many want a “click without comment” way to express their distaste for a status update, or for users to simply express sympathy.
To the latter Facebook dislike situation, we learned that the social network may at some point add a “sympathize” button to allow users to sort of express not “liking” an update without being overtly negative. (Sometimes if feels weird to “like” a sad status update, but users are lost for words to comment.)
Months earlier, a Facebook Reddit AMA revealed that among most-requested Facebook features, the “dislike” button was least likely to see the light of day — in part because the site is so averse to sowing discord directly among its user base.
Back then, it seemed a Facebook dislike button was basically a definitive no, with programmers explaining:
“Actions on Facebook tend to focus on positive social interactions. Like is the lightest-weight way to express positive sentiment. 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 okay!). For these times, a nice comment from a friend goes a long way.”
Today, The Verge posted a tantalizing headline that seemed to indicate otherwise — was Facebook finally coming around to the idea? The site teased: “Facebook finally launches ‘dislike,’ but only for Messenger.”
However, even that was a bit disingenuous — the post later admits:
“While Facebook isn’t introducing a full dislike button, the Messenger part of the service is getting a giant thumbs-down sticker as part of a free pack released this week.”
So, as of now and probably forever, the Facebook dislike button remains as elusive as the “block drunk updates” one. Sorry, Facebookers.
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