When Facebook rolled out a wider selection of reaction buttons a year ago, it missed one of the most long-desired features: a dislike button. Now, it seems the company is finally testing out a dislike button, but not for posts. Rather, it is a feature in Facebook Messenger.
According to a recent report, Facebook is testing new reactions feature in Messenger, which would allow users to add reaction emoji’s next to text in conversations. This is similar to how Slack and Apple’s iMessage offer responses to specific messages. Similar to how reactions work in the New Feed, users can hover over a message and choose from the existing five emoji, including laugh, sad, and surprise, along with the thumbs-up. Users would do this by clicking on a button next to text, which would bring up a series of reactions. Everyone in the thread will then see that Reaction counted below the specific message you attached it to, and you can tap to see a full list of who left which Reaction.
Facebook confirmed that it is testing the feature to TechCrunch:
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.
While a Dislike button in News Feed has been frequently requested by users, Facebook had resisted creating one, opting instead to create the wider range of reactions. The Messenger reaction list differs from the News Feed one because of the addition of much-asked for and always-denied Dislike button. Facebook explains that rather than acting as a “Dislike”, the thumbs-down is more of a “no” reaction, allowing it to serve as a useful response to a message when many people are chatting at once.
The feature does not appear for all users, but the company has conducted tests on small groups of users before rolling it out to the larger population. This shows there is no guaranteed time-frame for a roll out, but seeing as how popular News Feed reactions have been, they are bound to come to Messenger at some point.
