Facebook to add ‘dislike’ button

Since introduction of the now-iconic “like” button in 2009, Some of the Facebook users have been requesting the Menlo Park, California-based social network company to put up a “dislike” button.

In its report, TechCrunch said that Zuckerberg confirmed today in a public Q&A that the “dislike” button is designed to “show empathy for victims of tragedies and other things that are inappropriate to like”. If you say you “liked” something on Facebook, everyone knows that you mean.

Although details behind the alleged Dislike button aren’t known at this time, it is clear that the new feature will not have malicious intent. But later, Facebook came to understand that what users wanted was “to be able to express empathy”, he added.

“You don’t want to go through the process of sharing something that’s important to you and have other people down vote it”, Zuckerberg explained.

“I do think that it is important to give people more options than just like as a quick way to emote and share what they’re feeling on a post.” he said. The two will discuss “how communities can work together to address social and economic challenges”.

He said the new button is ready to be tested soon and could be rolled out broadly depending on how it does.

This time around, members of the crowd also asked Zuckerberg questions about artificial intelligence (he’s for it), his favorite scientist (James Clerk Maxwell), and the pregnancy of his wife, Priscilla Chan.

This was a complete 360 to the comments made by the 31-year-old last December when he stated that people wanted a Facebook “Dislike” button so they can say “that thing isn’t good”. “I think it might not be the best idea because we want to create a world with positivity and that would only bring bullying into the picture”, she said. The button is all about expressing empathy towards something. “Not every moment is a good moment”, he added.

The “dislike” button has been a subject of much discussion over the years. As Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) user base expands and as the platform grows into a place that features a variety of News Feeds and updates, the “Like” button, in turn, becomes less and less accommodating.