KimberMedia

Facebook Dislike Feature Debate

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in Facebook, Social Media, Social Networks, YouTube
October 27, 2011

I read this article in Mashable about Facebook blocking their developers and other enterprising developers (using Facebook’s API) from using the verb “Dislike” – right now developers can create any sort of experience they want for their companies or themselves or for whomever they’re developing – but they cannot use the term “Dislike”!

This is not a new debate… it has been raging since the dawn of the “Like”… here are some of the debate points mentioned in the article just in case you haven’t kept up:

Pro: You can create custom user experiences, right now you can “(Verb) a (Noun)” for example a developed can set up the actions to: Like a Page, cook a meal or walk a dog. Sometimes, people “Dislike” things – being able to provide that option is natural.

Con: What if people “Dislike” personal things like photos of someone’s newborn child? Is that something someone be able to do?

Pro: It allows for honest feedback! People can “Like” stuff all they want, but if they “Dislike” something – all they can do is comment/complain (which is useful for a couple of obvious reasons – what exactly is the problem?).

Con: A “Dislike” function for business pages could be potentially disastrous – after all – the world’s most popular social network is free for a reason (advertisers!).

What I think: just like everything that Facebook has been doing to keep up with Google+’s privacy features and implementing a few of their own… I think that people should have the option of adding a “Dislike” button to their posts/pages/etc. I think a dislike button might actually have potential for businesses! Sure, you’re going to get a few  Trolls but it might be a great way to gather quick info on how popular or unpopular a post is, or contest… or poll… or picture – whatever!

If you have the option to include a Dislike feature, but aren’t forced to have one – then the power is in your hands. You might have to answer questions like… “Why are you withholding the Dislike button? You afraid” or listen to stuff like, “I wish I could Dislike this” – which is something you can already see, but hey – people will give you a good ribbing  any way they can. I think the pros would outweigh the cons! Hey, it already works well on sites like Digg, Reddit and YouTube!

What do you think? – Would you use the Dislike button if you had a chance? Do you think it would be useful for businesses?