Creator of the Facebook 'Like' explains why you'll never get a 'Dislike' button

Facebook
None for you

We've all been there. Someone posts an update on Facebook, you can't think of anything meaningful to write beneath it, but just 'liking' it would convey a very different message to "I'm so sorry to hear this sad news." If only there were a 'dislike' button.

It's something that's come up time and time again, and interestingly it was actually a hot topic during the creation of the Facebook 'like'. We know because the creator of the 'like' and ex-Facebook CTO Bret Taylor (currently CEO of mobile productivity app Quip), told us himself. But he also explained why there never was one, and probably never will be one: it's just far too complex.

"[The dislike button] came up a lot. In fact even the language of the word like was something we discussed a lot as well. But regarding the dislike button, the main reason is that in the context of the social network, the negativity of that button has a lot of unfortunate consequences."

"The reason we launched the button in the first place was that there were a lot of times that people wanted to acknowledge something someone did, but didn't have anything to say. And a lot of comments were one word like 'cool' or 'wow' so the like button let people did that with a single click. It wasn't really just a sentiment of 'like'."

Haters gonna hate

But a 'dislike' button wouldn't work in the same way, said Taylor, and would only bring a lot of negativity with it instead. There could be implications on cyber bullying, for example.

"I have the feeling that if there were to be a 'dislike' button is that you would end up with these really negative social aspects to it. If you want to dislike something, you should probably write a comment, because there's probably a word for what you want to say.

"I'm not saying the 'like' button isn't flawed would it be even more complex with a negative sentiment like 'dislike'."

It's also worth mentioning that a 'dislike' button wouldn't be as useful as the 'like' for Facebook's targeted advertising, but that's just us being slightly cynical.

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.

Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.

Latest in Facebook
The Meta logo on a smartphone in front of the Facebook logo a little bit blurred in the background
Meta's new 'Link History' feature for the Facebook app isn't as protective of your data as it claims
The Meta Quest 3 in action
How much more data can Meta collect? Probably a lot, thanks to the Meta Quest 3 and Ray-Ban smart glasses
A laptop screen showing a Facebook Groups page
Scam alert: how to spot hoax posts in your Facebook Groups
Facebook
Facebook Messenger is losing a useful messaging feature soon
mother watching her daughter's activity online
Meta's new Facebook parental controls show social media still doesn't like responsibility
Phone screen closeup showing the download page for the Facebook app in the app store.
Meta wants to create a Facebook app store to compete with Apple's App Store and Google Play
Latest in News
Vision Pro Metallica
Apple Vision Pro goes off to never never land with Metallica concert footage
Mufasa is joined by another lion, a monkey and a bird in this promotional image
Mufasa: The Lion King prowls onto Disney+ as it finally gets a streaming release date
An American flag flying outside the US Capitol building against a blue sky
Sean Plankey selected as CISA director by President Trump
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 on a table with its retail packaging
Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU spotted in Acer gaming PC, suggesting rumors of imminent launch are correct – and that it’ll run with only 8GB of video RAM
Indiana Jones talking to a friend in a university setting with a jaunty smile on his face
New leak claims Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 release will come in April
A close up of the limited edition vinyl turntable wrist watch from AndoAndoAndo
This limited-edition timepiece turns the iconic Technics SL-1200 turntable into a watch, and I want one