Facebook won't launch a 'Dislike' button; 'Like' doesn't mean like

Last week, Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook was still "thinking about" introducing a 'Dislike' button alongside the existing 'Like' button. His statement has been reported as both the Dislike still being possible, and the Dislike having been ruled out forever. The truth is probably the latter, and mostly because the 'Like' button doesn't really mean like at all.

The arguments for a 'Dislike' button are, in essence, based on desire to express the semantic opposite of the 'Like' button - if I say I like a particular brand, I should be allowed to say I do not like it. But this is not what Like means.

In Facebook, Like doesn't really mean like, it means something much simpler and less emotional: 'Subscribe'.

Whether you are subscribing to a page to get updates from it, or subscribing to an individual post to find out when other people comment on it, the Facebook 'Like' button does something a lot less emotional than it appears.

And so a 'Dislike' button would make no sense - if anything we need an 'Unsubscribe' button. Except we already have it - if you click the 'Like' button for a second time then this is what it means.

There is a broader message here about words meaning different things, and performing different functions, depending on how and where they are used. However, if the case of Facebook, it's another reminder that the site wants to get you to subscribe to brand messaging (or updates from your friends) - and that's what 'Like' does.