Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) listens to its users, at least sometimes. Users have been demanding a “Dislike” button for a long time now. But the company has done nothing about it so far. That said, Facebook is working on another major concern of users. People have long felt awkward and inappropriate “liking” a status when someone posts about the death of someone dear, a breakup or a bad day. In such cases, you need to sympathize with your friends. Acknowledging this, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is planning to add a new “Sympathize” button.
Yet another interesting Hackathon invention
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) engineer Dan Muriello said yesterday that one of his colleagues has developed the Sympathize button during a Facebook Hackathon. Muriello was speaking at Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s annual Compassion Research Day. Hackathon, according to Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), is a foundation for breakthrough innovation in serving people better. A spokesman for the social networking giant told Bianca Bosker of the Huffington Post that many of the company’s great ideas come from Hackathons. Though many of them don’t find their way into Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s website. Some of the most popular features of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) such as Chat messenger, Timeline and Like button are Hackathon inventions.
It would work something like this. When a user selects a negative emoticon such as “depressed” or “sad”, the Like button would automatically be relabeled as “Sympathize.” However, it won’t make its way to the site anytime soon, says Muriello. He said his fellow engineers are enthusiastic about the creation, but it needs to undergo rigorous analysis and testing before reaching the site.
Muriello said it would say “ten people sympathize with this” rather than “ten people like this.” He also said people are excited about this new idea and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) would be working diligently to finalize this new functionality.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares rose 0.13% to $48 in pre-market trading Monday.
