Dislike button

[carlton finney]

Does anyone know where (if possible) I can get a dislike button for my site?

[Brad T]

Trust me, you do not want or need a dislike button.

I've seen people on facebook lobbying for this for years, but there's a very simple reason why they will never ever do it... It is far to easy for a "dislike" to be misconstrued. Yes, the person might correctly take it as affirming a negative post, but they could just as easily take it to mean that the person dislikes them or what they have to say (not to mention that the reader might in fact be trying to insult them with a dislike).

On the other hand, while I think it's weird that some people will "like" a negative post, you don't ever think of that as being rude. So if someone dislikes something, then that's what the comments are for, to explain why they feel that way.

You don't want to leave it up to your reader to interpret a "dislike", because it could easily offend them to where they say "forget this place, I'm not going to go where people dislike what I have to say".

 

Make sense?

[carlton finney]

Thank you...thats how i feel about having the dislike button, i feel like it will do more harm than good.  I was only asking because my business partners keep bringing it up...lol

[carlton finney]

lol....i told them that. I personally feel that the dislike button is a negative feature to have on a social network

[Speed Racer]

people have been asking facebook for one for years. their argument is, if you dislike, simply don't "like". Also, as stated in this article, the simple truth is, people in general cannot be trusted to use a dislike button sensibly, and I'd have to agree with that. Also, it could open up a huge can of worms of causing disagreements on networks that you would likely end up spending a lot of time trying to clean up, not to mention members leaving over disagreements. The idea is to keep everything positive, a dislike button is a tool for negativity, and had Facebook ever implemented it, they wouldn't be the huge monster of social media they are.

[Brad T]

Glad to see there are plenty more that realize this...

Beyond just not "liking" something you dislike, I'd even go as far as to say that forcing them to express their displeasure in the comments instead can in many cases be a good thing. No matter whether they affirm what that person has to say ("that stinks"), or they provide a reason for debate, if it's done by reasonable and intelligent people (or even just 1 knowledgeable person taking on false misconceptions) can be a HUGE source of traffic, as people line up to get in their 2 cents or read the intellectual debate that insues. (Also, trainwreck threads can be huge traffic boosters too, but that's not something I recommend subjecting your serious readers to).

Of course there are plenty of instances where disagreement can be negative too, but no more than "disliking" something without stating any particular reason why you do... Obviously that's only likely to create animosity and misunderstanding.

[Speed Racer]

also, can you imagine how much textual content that would make go away on networks? you see people like things on facebook all the time without commenting, would that happen for dislikes too? you'd have 20 likes, 4 dislikes, no replies lol. That could be bad for SEO, lack of content.