As we all know, clicking the ‘like’ button below a post on Facebook is the simplest way to let people know that you enjoy it without leaving any comment. In any case, the fact remains that you liked the post. But what happens when the content carries a tragic or sorrowful event such as sudden and untimely death of an ace rugby player or the aftermath of the recent Syrian Refugee Crisis. Will a ‘dislike’ button be the answer? Most probably, not .

However, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had come up with a sensible solution by announcing that Facebook will soon launch a button which will help users to express empathy. Empathy, incidentally denotes the ability to understand and share the feelings of another (having shared the same, or similar experience).

Elaborating further, the 31-year old chief executive argued that despite people asking for a ‘dislike’ button on the social media site for long, the company had veered away from making the ‘dislike’ button  which could be used to ‘vote down other people’s posts.’

What other persons have said

Zuckerberg has been teasing us about a ‘dislike’ button for years—and reaping a wave of free publicity each time—but he has always couched his statements carefully. In December 2014, he flat-out stated that the company will not build a “dislike” button that gives people a way to disapprove of one another’s posts. However, he said, Facebook was exploring ways to allow users to convey fuzzy sentiments like surprise, laughter, or empathy.

That’s very similar to what he said the other day, when he asserted that “what they really want is an ability to express empathy. If you’re expressing something sad … it may not feel comfortable to ‘like’ that post, but your friends and people want to be able to express that they understand.”

It almost certainly won’t be as simple as adding a dislike button beside the like button.

What that will actually look like remains unclear. A Facebook spokesperson on Tuesday declined to offer specifics on the company’s plans for new buttons beyond what Zuckerberg himself said. But it almost certainly won’t be as simple as adding a dislike button beside the like button, so that people can upvote and downvote one another’s posts, Reddit-style.

If I had to guess, I’d say the most likely possibility is this: Facebook will give you the option, when you post something, to enable your friends and followers to respond with a button other than “like,” such as “sympathize,” or “agree,” or, I don’t know, “hug”—but only for that specific post. It’s possible the word “dislike” will be among those options, although I still think that’s unlikely. – Source: AP

Views expressed by Torie Bosch, Editor Future Tense

Facebook doesn’t really need a dislike button, because it’s “like” button has already taken on a more flexible meaning than simple approval. Nonetheless, it makes sense for Facebook to consider some alternatives, because understanding when users are expressing things like sympathy, outrage, or laughter rather than approval will help Facebook fine-tune its news-feed algorithms. More nuanced responses means more data for Facebook to mine and monetize—and if you dislike that, then you’re on the wrong social network.