Facebook is finally making it easier for you to express your malcontent. That’s right, friends: instead of going on a rant on your favorite social media platform, just hit the dislike button instead. As per a new TechCrunch report, Facebook is testing out its highly requested feature, although it may not be where you expect it.
As per a tip from tech blogger Hoan Do, Facebook Messenger appears to be testing various Reactions in its popular messaging app. Much like in Apple’s iMessage, if you hover over a message, you’ll see an emoji button that includes options like the thumbs-up Like, the thumbs-down Dislike, and various other emoji faces. And much like in group messaging app Slack, everyone in the chat will see the Reaction as it relates to a specific message, and if multiple people have the Like, Dislike, or give it an “lol” emoji, you can see a full list of people who reacted.
“We’re always testing ways to make Messenger more fun and engaging,” Facebook told TechCrunch in a statement. “This is a small test where we enable people to share an emoji that best represents their feelings on a message.” So while you may not have the option to add these Reactions in Messenger right this moment, if the initial group of testers give it the thumbs up, it may be rolling out to all of Facebook’s billion-strong community soon.
Although Facebook has long resisted adding a Dislike button in order to avoid too much negativity (especially in News Feed), it seems that the social network is now envisioning the notion of a thumbs-down as more of a “no.” As Facebook told TechCrunch, because Messenger is often used to plan events, this new set of Reactions could make things a bit more efficient, almost serving as a real-time poll.
Who knew how much we all like to dislike things on public forums.
