Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Facebook dislike buttons would bring too much 'negative energy' to the social network

Facebook is beginning to roll out its solution to a 'dislike' button in the form of six new reactions

Samuel Osborne
Saturday 10 October 2015 07:34 EDT
Comments
Reactions are currently being trialed in Span and Ireland
Reactions are currently being trialed in Span and Ireland (Facebook)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Facebook didn't add a 'dislike' button because it would bring too much negativity to the social network.

Adam Mosseri, head of Facebook's news team, told Bloomberg his team decided the ability to 'dislike' posts wouldn't be "in the spirit of the product we're trying to build".

The social network is beginning to roll out its solution to a 'dislike' button in the form of six new emoji.

Along with the standard 'like', users can now express various feelings on a status, picture or video.

As with the like button, reactions will appear on any post in the news feed on mobile or desktop.

The crop of new reactions that Facebook will soon be rolling out to users' newsfeeds
The crop of new reactions that Facebook will soon be rolling out to users' newsfeeds (Facebook)

Mr Mosseri was given the mandate to make it easier for people to express themselves without the need to post an entire comment.

To decide on how to implement reactions, he combined sociologists' feedback with data showing what people do on Facebook.

“We wanted to make it easier,” he said. “When things are easier to do, they reach more people, and more people engage with them.

The new emojis were released to users in Spain and Ireland on Thursday and will likely be rolled out to all users in the coming months.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in