For many years, Facebook users around the globe have wished for a dislike button on one of the largest social media platform. However, it appears Mark Zuckerberg is still not for the idea. Despite the Facebook CEO insisting that the platform will never have a dislike button, rumors about Facebook having a dislike button emerge from time to time.
Facebook Messenger Thumbs-Down Emoji
This time round, rumors about Facebook finally having a dislike button are already in the air, and the topic is flooded with all sorts of opinions. Facebook has even confirmed that it is testing thumbs down reaction on messenger. However, this does not imply that the Facebook dislike button will be present any time soon. Thumbs down emoji especially the one on Messenger isn’t equivalent to a Facebook ‘dislike, ’ and Messenger emoji are not labeled, unlike reactions on Facebook. According to reliable sources, Facebook has recently been working out ways to add reactions to Messenger, but not Facebook. These reactions have been said to resemble ‘tap back reactions’ similar to those used in iMessage, which enables users to react using a variety of emotions.
According to the source, Facebook Messenger reactions will now comprise of up-to seven new emoji including wow, low, heart-eyes, angry, sad, thumps down, thumps up,lol. Individuals, who have always dreamt of Facebook having a dislike button, should consider making the thumbs-down Emoji on Facebook Messenger their new best friend. However, this does not mean that you will now be in a position to ‘dislike’ Facebook posts on your Newsfeed.
According to Facebook, the Facebook Messenger thumbs-down emoji is meant to say ‘no,’ but not that the user dislikes something. It has been reported that Facebook views the thumbs-down Emoji on Facebook Messenger as a “no’ button. The social networking company says that most people use Messenger for coordination and planning purposes. Therefore, its current experiment is meant to see whether additional reactions will be helpful for quick voting and logistics. This is the same reason it is offering users with a Yes or No option, although most people will view it as a button for dislike purposes.
Reports indicate that the new Facebook Messenger feature is undergoing testing on a selected group of Facebook users. Once the testing is complete and has proven to be useful, the networking giant will roll out the feature to the other users who use Facebook Messenger. According to a Facebook representative, the company is always working on possible ways to make Facebook Messenger more engaging and fun. The representative insists that this is just a small test where it is allowing some selected users to share certain emoji that symbolizes their feelings.
Is Facebook Planning to Introduce a Dislike Button?
Facebook has categorically stated before that it has no plans to include a dislike button on the main site. In its defense, the networking giant claims that failure to include a dislike button on Facebook is meant to avoid negativity among family members and friends. Reactions launched for the first time one year ago. Facebook aimed for reactions to provide diverse ways through which users could express their reactions to posts.
It is not clear whether the new Facebook Messenger test will be made available to other Facebook users. If the test doesn’t show positive results, the company is likely to do away with it and maybe start another test. Most of these small tests never expand to be used by other Facebook users. For instance, last year, Facebook was testing a feature that made posts disappear within Messenger. The small test titled ‘Messenger Day’ was carried out in Australia and Poland. At the beginning of this year, the company introduced a similar feature, currently going with the name ‘Facebook Stories.’ However, it can only be used on the main Facebook app by users in Ireland.
Zuckerberg has not said anything concrete about the dislike button feature just yet. Each time Mark is asked about it, he just says that the company is thinking about it. Since the CEO has been giving the same answer whenever asked about his dislike button thoughts, it is evident that Facebook is not ready to introduce the feature. According to Zuckerberg, dislike button would turn out to be very negative, and users would use it to drive their negative agendas. He adds that a dislike button would be used for bullying on Facebook.
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Conclusion
Facebook will not feature a dislike button or any reaction that is overly negative any time soon. However, people seem to anticipate for the day the dislike button will be made available. According to Zuckerberg, any other reaction on Facebook apart from ‘Like’ should be about empathy creation meaning that it would be used to mean good, but not bad. Last year, Facebook revamped the like button and introduced new reactions such as ‘love,’ ‘wow,’ ‘haha,’ ‘angry,’ and ‘sad,’ but no dislike button. Although Facebook appears not to have ruled out providing more fun reactions in the near future, the dislike button is for sure not in their mind.
