Comments on: Facebook Dislike Button is a Bad Idea

By: Rich

Rich — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:16:31 +0000

When I write the comment “Where’s the dislike button?” it is always in response to something someone posted that is making *them* unhappy. (In contrast, I click “like” for any of a number of reasons.)

Reading this blog post and its comments, however, I am convinced that there are other ways to interpret a “dislike” button, many of them unconstructive.

Should we be asking for a “sympathy” button instead?

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:25:03 +0000

If you dont like someone, but you want them on your list, it would be good if Facebook made an annoymous dislike button, like on Youtube.

The idea is you cause pain and suffering to the whore who decides to pout her lips in pictures. Or if you get a status update that says “cant wait to go on holidays with ma girliessss”, sooo i actually dislike the damn status because she is an attention whore.

The more dislikes a person gets, then they will think twice before acting the way they are. So what if they get hurt by it? We have a like button to be nice, so why not a dislike button to be horrible.

The reality of the world is, people say what they want, and to refrain from saying whats on your mind is just stupid.

[this comment has been edited by the moderator]

By: joel

joel — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:29:10 +0000

It would be hard to prove the claim that “that’s what the rest of the world wants a dislike button for.” There’s no reliable way to know that. It’s a sweeping generalization, a weak rhetorical technique and the refuge of the factless.

And why leave an anonymous comment?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:41:16 +0000

“Update: Based on the very helpful initial comments below, maybe I’ve missed the meaning of the Dislike Button. I completely agree with Sophmom that it might be useful to have a way to indicate that you disliked what was reported in the item as opposed to disliking the author for posting it, or the fact that it was posted. For example, if someone posted an item about receiving poor customer service from a company, a Dislike would indicate that the user disliked the company’s behavior, not fact that the item was posted.”

Yes, thank you; that’s what the rest of the world wants a Dislike button for. It’s very strange that that flew over your head.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:28:55 +0000

How about a button for every sentiment??? A dislike button is pure evil and should not be brought into existence. It is mean. If you dislike something, address it in detail, ignore it, block it, or remove that person from your friends list.

By: calluna

calluna — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:33:32 +0000

While the intentions are good with the drive for a “dislike” button, there are vast opportunities for abuse of the function, which would not be worthwhile. If we have the good sense to use such a feature in the ways Sophmom and Jenny suggest, we cannot assume that our friends all share that sense. The fact that Facebook is used by people around the world, in various languages, can easily lead to misunderstandings of meanings and cultural nuances. Even among fairly homogeneous FB friends, a “dislike” button could create unnecessary divisions and conflict by calling attention to the negative, when used in reference to something political, religious, or ambiguous. The lack of clarity on the use/function of like/dislike functions will certainly continue, as well, with people’s reasons/intentions in using the function not always being clear. That’s not a big deal with “like”, but in my opinion a confusing “dislike” would just cause problems. One other matter–a “dislike” button would further encourage the drama-llamas of the world to post complaints and whine in their status for the apparent sympathy found in a “dislike”. While it’s okay to share our troubles in our status once in a while, continual negativity and gloom is rather dislike-able.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:16:56 +0000

I see where you’re coming from, but I think it’s a little different in terms of being able to like/dislike a status update from a person. “…might have swine flu” or “…is certain that test didn’t go well” would deserve dislike buttons. (Let’s ignore, for brevity’s sake, the fact that these are probably inappropriate to post in the first place, leading to a larger conversation about what one should/shouldn’t announce on tha interwebs) I know I should say more than “BOOO”, but it’s sometimes difficult to know exactly what to say, which is why Hallmark exists. To be able to show support quickly is the intent of the like button, and I think could be a use for the dislike button. Maybe what they really need is a “Sorry to hear that” button.