Why Facebook Not Adding a ‘Dislike’ Button Makes More People Dislike Them

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By: Shawn Paul Wood

For years, Facebook has been known for its ironic, anti-social behavior. What else would you expect from a company full of hipsters and fancy-shmancy coffee drinkers?

Are they interested in making a product better? Meh. Are they interested in those customer complaint calls? Meh. Are they interested in collecting a check? Sure.

See, nothing really gets Facebook employees' hair up in a dander, but when rumors began floating that Facebook was going to add the dreaded "dislike" button, employees began yanking their hoodie strings, because that would only spell good news for the stalkers and the trolls.

"There are more sentiments people want to express than just positivity," Zuckerberg said. When people share moments that are sad or controversial, there isn’t a quick, easy way to empathize with them. "People tell us they aren’t comfortable pressing ‘like’ when someone lost a loved one,” Zuckerberg offered as an example.

People don’t like that girl always going on vacations or meeting pseudo-famous people. And do you really think people like all that Facebook news about Zuckerberg wanting everyone in the world to get online (so they can be monetized on Facebook)?

Of course not, which is why the company gets some bad PR too. Users aren’t fond of the fact they can’t dislike something on Facebook. It’s the day of being anonymous because courage is not a thing, so why not?

Whelp, according to Time magazine, adding a dislike button would be “too negative.” And BOOM went the dynamite.

“We need to figure out the right way to do it so it ends up being a force for good, not a force for bad,” Zuckerberg said in Menlo Park, California (Facebook HQ).

A “force for good” to tell people that they get on your nerves. Hmmm...what possibly could that be? The friend zone? The “love ya’ like a brother” statement? The “it’s not you, it’s me” line of crap?

I got one, Facebook. What do we think of this decision? “You deserve better...and so do we.”

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About the Author

Shawn Paul Wood is a hack-turned-flack with more than 20 years of collective journalism, copywriting and marketing communications experience. Shawn Paul is founder of Woodworks Communications in Dallas, Texas. If you need him, ping him here or follow him on Twitter @ShawnPaulWood.