It’s all over the internet that Facebook is possibly going to include a “dislike button” for posts. My initial reaction was that I “dislike” the idea of a dislike button.
But here’s what’s probably going on.
We’re all engaged right now in market research for Facebook. My hunch is that marketing pros at Facebook are using (in part) the reaction to this story to get ideas about how it might or might not work as well as gauge sentiment.
That’s not all they will do, either. Creating this feature is probably not a big technical task. If the challenge was just technology, it would already be out there.
Right now, I’m sure a selected group of people is testing out what it’s like to dislike.
What I love about this is that it supports how experimentation and not fearing to fail delivers the best end product.
Talking with Kim Blight, who heads up our marketing, we’re both cringing at the idea of a dislike button. I’d much rather see a “hug” button. (Doesn’t it feel awkward to “like” that your friend feels bad about their cat dying?)
But here’s my bet, if the rest of us end up seeing that feature appear on Facebook, it will be because research has shown Facebook’s strategy people that it’s a great idea.
If it’s a bad idea, we will silently never hear about it again.
And that’s the beauty of testing products.
