References:
AKRON (Oct. 26, 2015)— One of the most common activities on Facebook is to “Like” a post, photo, etc.
While users have been asking for a “Dislike” button for years, Facebook always denied the request.
Until now…sort of.
Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook announced they are working on a “Dislike” button because, frankly, not every news shared on the site is good news.
However, it looks like this will be more of an Emoji panel and not an actual Dislike button. Facebook started rolling out the “Reactions” feature earlier this month to select users.
Mashable.com explains the Reactions feature is an extension of the Like button and allows users to use six different reactions: like, love, haha, yay, wow, sad and anger. The feature was rolled out first to Ireland and Spain users, Mashable said.
An article on Performancing.com stated: “The main intention of this will be for users to be able to show empathy when a friend or someone they follow posts bad news.”
It references that Facebook isn't trying to create a Reddit style system where people can “down vote” a post that would then push a post down or out of a feed.
Although Facebook hasn't explained how the Reactions feature will affect its algorithm, it may assist businesses to understand more of what their followers like and dislike. More options may lead to more feedback, which can be helpful for a marketing standpoint as well as shaping future social media strategies.
The New York Times blogged about the topic of the dislike button, noting how some are encouraging the dislike button while others oppose it. While some people feel there is already too much negativity online, others believe it will just give more options to express oneself.
However, the article references how the button may affect the business side of Facebook and may be a bit disconcerting to marketers — who want their messages to be positive.
Debra Aho Williamson, a social media analyst at the research firm eMarketer, was quoted as saying: “Over all, it's probably a good thing to enable people to express feelings and emotions that they can't express through a like button…. But Facebook needs to be careful as to how they enable that capability with regard to advertising and all the potentially inflammatory discussions that could occur online.”
Hopefully with the range of reactions Facebook has put out, it will ease the minds of the marketers that were initially fearful. However, as the feature has not yet become a mainstream option, we will all have to stay tuned to how it works.
_________________________________________
What are your thoughts about the new Reactions feature? Email me at [email protected] or tweet to me at @jenniferkarpus.