It seems like the wait could be over. We are finally getting a dislike button on Facebook. Just not where we had imagined it to be.
Reactions have been a success for Facebook, and the the company is now testing them in Messenger as well, as Reactions can often be a better and easier way to respond to friends. As part of this experiment, Facebook is also (finally) testing a Dislike button. In Messenger.
The feature was first spotted by Hoan Do at TechCrunch. Messenger Reactions are a bit different from the ones we have gotten used to on Facebook.
When hovering on a message received from a friend, you can choose between a heart-eyes, lol, wow, sad, or angry emoji, as well as a thumbs-up Like and… a thumbs-down Dislike! When part of a group conversation, Messenger will also show a Reaction counter that will tell everyone in the thread who and how many people reacted.
When contacted, Facebook confirmed the new feature, explaining that
[quote]We’re always testing ways to make Messenger more fun and engaging. This is a small test where we enable people to share an emoji that best represents their feelings on a message.[/quote]
As you understand, this means Reactions are only being tested among a small number of Messenger users at this time. But if the test is successful, we can imagine seeing them (and the first Dislike button) coming to Messenger very soon.
[box]Read more: Facebook Reactions Will Influence What You See On Your News Feed[/box]