Facebook: ‘Dislike’ function scrapped in favour of ‘Reactions’

The introduction of a Facebook ‘Dislike’ button has been in discussion for a long time. But let’s consider the problems this might introduce in an age where cyber-bullying is rife. While there are innocent statuses it’s fine to dislike e.g. “Gutted, my dog has been run over.” An actual dislike button will leave users posting statuses open to abuse.

While many of us know someone that can prove slightly annoying, who posts numerous statuses, selfies, photos of their food/children/pets/home/holiday snaps (delete where appropriate); would actually taking time to make these people feel bad for something they find joy in actually benefit anyone? Let’s be honest, if you don’t like it, keep scrolling.

Thankfully, Mark Zuckerberg and the team at Facebook, also realise the problems introducing a dislike button could cause and have instead chosen to expand on the ‘Like’ function by adding a series of reactions in the form of six emoji icons. These reactions will be present next to the ‘Like’ button and will enable Facebook users to express:

Facebook reaction emojis

The new feature is currently being tested in Ireland and Spain, with a view to rolling out later this year.

Let’s all remember to be kind with this new functionality. People don’t sign up to Facebook to receive negative responses. Many just want to share happy moments with those they care about. If you don’t like certain posts there’s ways and means of bypassing or removing these from your newsfeed.