Why Facebook's Dislike Button is Good for Brands

Yesterday, technology and media offices around the country lost about 20 percent of their total productivity due to a surprising announcement from Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook will finally introduce something similar to a button. "dislike".

The hot stuff was hastily thrown into the microwave.

Does it lead to cyberbullying?

Should they hide it for users under 18?

And what about branding? Wouldn't someone please think of brands?

With pleasure.

Should brands worry about the dislike button?

First of all, social media brand managers worried about being fired for a negative amount of interactions should breathe a sigh of relief. Facebook will not introduce a literal “dislike” button as a like counter. Zuckerberg made that very clear in the live Q&A he made the announcement.

If anything, it's more of a "empathy" button.

“Everybody Zuckerberg said. “What they really want is to be able to express empathy. Not every moment is a good moment, right? And if you're sharing something sad, whether it's something about current events, like the refugee crisis that touched you, or if a family member passed away, then you have You might not feel comfortable liking that post. ”

Zuckerberg went on to explain that "it's as simple as doing an interaction you want," adding that they'll soon have something ready to test. In all likelihood, Facebook will use some kind of language or URL parsing software to display the button where appropriate. It's not likely to be a popular choice, and I bet it will rarely show up on branded posts, if at all.

A real dislike button would be good

Zuckerberg is right that people don't need to respond roughly to what they share, but brands do. They need as much feedback as possible; The more data points the better. No one needs to worry about hurting a brand's feelings.

“So isolated from the world’s disgust of what they are doing,” Deacon Webster, founder and CCO of advertising agency Walrus, tells Contently. “I think brands need to listen to that. If Walmart didn't know that people hate their pizza dip ads, they'd keep doing it. ”

Did the “dislike” button for the brand scare off marketers in the first place? It's entirely possible, especially if it causes executives to overreact. But smart brands will see data as valuable – the same way that data happens in focus groups or even on YouTube, where “dislike” and “dislike” buttons provide information. much needed detail the number of views at the beginning of the video is attractive .

Finally, dislikes can also force marketers to evaluate why Facebook ignored their reach the past two years as opposed to blindly blaming the social network. They are likely to tune in and invest more in content, telling bigger and better brand stories rather than driving a self-promotional schlock. (Or, if they don't, replace with someone who will.)

Of course, there is little chance that this will actually happen. But if Facebook wants to extend genuine empathy to marketers, it should.