Facebook has long struggled with the option of introducing a “dislike” or disapproving option on posts or comments. It’s a feature that the social network’s users have long been asking for (some of them, anyway) but Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously voiced concern to any kind of up/down voting system, similar to what is on Reddit.
In 2016, Facebook attempted to quell the noise for a dislike option by introducing Facebook Reactions, which allows users to react to posts and comments in a variety of ways, including laughing and anger. However there was no “thumbs down” or dislike option.
And now Facebook is now said to be rolling out the closest thing to a dislike option you’re likely to see on the Facebook platform – the “downvote” option. Currently rolling out in Australia and New Zealand, users can either upvote or downvote comments on public posts, giving each comment a “score” (downvotes subtracted from upvotes.) That’s very similar to Reddit.
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Facebook has said the feature is testing a way to reduce the visibility of comments that are disrespectful or abusive, or, as they said in a statement, to move down the comments that are simply attacks or filled with profanity .
It sounds good on paper, but Facebook would be placing a lot of trust in its users with this feature. While the social network has always been adamant they are not introducing a “dislike” option, this is essentially what a downvote option could become. While Facebook many want their users to downvote only on comments that are disrespectful or abusive, it’s practically inevitable that many users will use the downvote option on comments they disagree with. Meaning “downvote” ultimately becomes dislike.
There are plenty of restrictions with the upvote/downvote system. For one, voting is anonymous, and only available on comments on public posts, and not on posts themselves. And as we referenced above, it’s only currently available to users in Australia and New Zealand.
The feature is currently still in testing, meaning Facebook may still tweak the feature or scrap it altogether, meaning most of us will never see it. Only time will tell – let us know what you think of the feature.
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