Facebook will add ‘dislike’ button to its news feed. ‘Dislike’ addition is to ostensibly help manifest emotions beyond ‘like’. The ‘dislike’ button is not a suo motu offering but a result of rising subscriber demand for variety in emotional expression. Is the move going to lead to serious sibling rivalry between ‘like’and ‘dislike’? It is early days but a safe bet can be placed on ‘like’ emerging the undisputed winner. Here is why: a) like is a safe happy emotion (here even a death announcement provokes ‘likes’ by hordes); b) pressing a like does not place any negative burden on the action while as dislike denotes clear cut negativity; c) Facebook’s news feed core today supports positive energy leaving little room for any dislike and d) for ‘dislike’ to dominate ‘like’ FB has to change its DNA. That is unlikely!
