Facebook 'dislike button' may be more than a thumbs down

Facebook dislike button

Mark Zuckerburg and company have been a bit ambiguous as to how exactly it will employ a new empathy button, a newly uncovered patent suggests it could be as simple as emojis.

Filed on December 23, 2014, the Facebook patent illustrates a small selection of emojis sit alongside Facebook's iconic like button. From the patent illustration, it seems like emoting would open up more options for users to respond with a smiling, dour or other funny faces.

Zuckerberg first announced on Tuesday that Facebook would integrate a way for users to express empathy. The Social Network founder explained a dislike button would be too simple and create a culture of up and down voting – not unlike Reddit.

Facebook dislike button

An illustration from Facebook's patent

Although Facebook has already implemented an emoji-like with stickers, the system is a bit cumbersome with so many options and it requires users to post them in a message. If this patent proves to be more than a concept, a small subset of emoticons could be a faster way of capturing users' reactions to complex topics such as the republican debate or the refuge crisis in Syria.

Facebook will begin public testing soon, so we could see a new set of emoji-like options appear next to the usual thumbs up button.

via The Next Web

Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee was a former computing reporter at TechRadar. Kevin is now the SEO Updates Editor at IGN based in New York. He handles all of the best of tech buying guides while also dipping his hand in the entertainment and games evergreen content. Kevin has over eight years of experience in the tech and games publications with previous bylines at Polygon, PC World, and more. Outside of work, Kevin is major movie buff of cult and bad films. He also regularly plays flight & space sim and racing games. IRL he's a fan of archery, axe throwing, and board games.