Facebook
is going beyond the “like” button, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday.
The
social network is working on something akin to a “dislike” button, Mr.
Zuckerberg said during a wide-ranging Q&A at Facebook’s headquarters that
was streamed online.
But it
won’t be simple. Zuckerberg said Facebook wants to limit use of the button to
expressing sympathy when someone posts something sad or upsetting.
Zuckerberg
said it was a surprisingly complicated task to build the button. But the
company has an idea that it will soon begin testing.
Facebook
has been asked about a dislike button for many years, but the company didn’t
want to just give users an easy way to criticize a Facebook status. Zuckerberg
said Facebook has found that users don’t want to vote down others, but would
like to express support when someone shares something sad, such as news about a
family member dying or an article about the refugee crisis.
“What
they really want is an ability to express empathy," Zuckerberg. “If you’re
expressing something sad… it may not feel comfortable to ‘like’ that post, but
your friends and people want to be able to express that they understand."
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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