Facebook may finally be ready for the thumbs down.
At a town-hall Q&A on Thursday, the top question submitted to founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was whether the company would ever add a “dislike” button.
“You know, we’re thinking about it,” Zuckerberg replied.
Here’s the complete video of his answer.
Zuckerberg acknowledged that when users share sad news or controversial issues on Facebook, others feel uncomfortable or ambivalent about pressing a “like” button.
“There are more sentiments that people want to express than positivity,” he said.
But the CEO also said Facebook must avoid introducing a feature that could be used to shame or express hatred towards posters. So when the button comes, it’s likely to be called something other than “dislike.”
“We need to figure out the right way to do it so that it ends up being a force for good, and not a force for bad, or demeaning the post that people are putting out there,” he said.
In the comments section of the video posted on Facebook, one user suggested a “hug” button.
“Yeah, this is one of the options we’ve discussed,” Zuckerberg replied.
When the “like” button was initially conceived it was called the “awesome” button. Despite Facebook’s longtime motto of “move fast and break shit,” the button was reconsidered and tweaked time and time again before its eventual launch in February 2009.
This post originally appeared on Qz.com.
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At a town-hall Q&A on Thursday, the top question submitted to founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was whether the company would ever add a “dislike” button.
“You know, we’re thinking about it,” Zuckerberg replied.
Here’s the complete video of his answer.
Zuckerberg acknowledged that when users share sad news or controversial issues on Facebook, others feel uncomfortable or ambivalent about pressing a “like” button.
“There are more sentiments that people want to express than positivity,” he said.
But the CEO also said Facebook must avoid introducing a feature that could be used to shame or express hatred towards posters. So when the button comes, it’s likely to be called something other than “dislike.”
“We need to figure out the right way to do it so that it ends up being a force for good, and not a force for bad, or demeaning the post that people are putting out there,” he said.
In the comments section of the video posted on Facebook, one user suggested a “hug” button.
“Yeah, this is one of the options we’ve discussed,” Zuckerberg replied.
When the “like” button was initially conceived it was called the “awesome” button. Despite Facebook’s longtime motto of “move fast and break shit,” the button was reconsidered and tweaked time and time again before its eventual launch in February 2009.
This post originally appeared on Qz.com.
