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Facebook Is Testing a Dislike Button (thedailybeast.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the not-satisfactory dept.

Ever since the inception of the Like button, Facebook users have been asking for a "dislike" button. Today, Facebook is testing a "downvote" button with certain users in the comment section of posts within Facebook groups and on old Facebook memories content. The Daily Beast reports: The feature appears to give users the ability to downrank certain comments. This is the first time Facebook has tested anything similar to a "dislike" button and it could theoretically allow for content that's offensive or relevant to be pushed to the bottom of a comment feed. In 2016, citing Facebook executives, Bloomberg said a dislike button "had been rejected on the grounds that it would sow too much negativity" to the platform. It's unclear how widely the dislike button is being tested. Facebook regularly tests features with small subsets of users that never end up rolling out to the broader public. Most users currently are only able to either Like or Reply to comments in a thread. The downvote option could have radical implications on what types of discussions and comments flourish on the platform. While it could theoretically be used to de-rank inflammatory or problematic comments, it could also easily be used as a tool for abuse.

3 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. This is incendiary by postbigbang · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Like a grenade. You thought Facebook was bombastic before? Watch the fury when you can thumbs-down something. The cesspool will get deeper still. This doesn't do anything but start fights.

    --
    ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
    1. Re:This is incendiary by Baron_Yam · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Unfortunately, negative social interaction is more engaging than positive. The users will be less happy - hell, some will be downright miserable - but they'll be more engaged, more addicted to getting likes and getting a rush from watching 'enemies' get a dislike.

      See: Reddit. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than a social networking site with this kind of unlimited feedback system.

    2. Re:This is incendiary by Wycliffe · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The difference is facebook is (ostensibly) limited to the people with whom you are *friends*. With reddit, anyone can up/downvote you. Facebook doesn't have the anonymity. I doubt the impact would be remotely comparable.

      Which is exactly why facebook should have anonymous dislikes and anonymous disagree buttons.
      Most people already live in an echo chamber but that echo chamber is magnified because very few people
      are willing to call their friends out when they post stuff they disagree with. By being allowed to
      anonymously disagree with a post you could signal to a friend that you really didn't like their racist
      or otherwise inflammatory post. They would know one of their friends disagreed with it which might give
      them pause but they wouldn't know which friend. It also might encourage people to prune their
      friend lists more often.