Could it really be true? Last month Mark Zuckerberg appeared to announce what many by now thought impossible: Facebook is developing the highly coveted "dislike" button. *Thumbs up*.
Well, it might not be true. There may have been a bit of a miscommunication. *Thumbs down*. The Facebook CEO actually appeared to allude to a series of 'empathy' icons, which could be used for different situations, without confirming a specific 'Dislike' button.
Either way, what's clear from all this, is the bosses at Facebook are taking on board the long-held feeling that the iconic "like" button, visualized by a thumbs-up icon, is hardly sufficient to conveniently express the range of emotion users feel about any one status or post.
At DesignCrowd we totally agree one button can say more than a thousand words, so we asked our designers to develop a few more options for icons that can express the most common thoughts we have as we scroll through our newsfeeds. Below are some of our favorites.
BONUS: make a logo for your Facebook page on BrandCrowd.
Our winner – for all you food photographers out there
At first it was kind of fun, and we can totally see why you'd take a picture of a one-off amazing meal, like a wedding cake, or anything made by this guy. But stop taking pictures of your morning cereal already. We get it, it's delicious. Now tuck in and stop cluttering up our newsfeeds!
The runner-up – allowing us to express a whole range of emotions
Design firm "My Dream's Website Development" went above and beyond the challenge and gave us not just one new icon, but a whole suite of them. And who doesn't want to share hugs, respect and the occasional reality check with their friends? We can totally see all of these getting a lot of use.
A worthy bronze – TMI much?
In social media world, sharing is great. It's what you're there for. But sharing can quickly lead to oversharing, and nobody wants to read about the state of your bodily functions, intimate relationship details, or anything that would really best be discussed with a medical professional or therapist. Have mercy on those of us just looking for a good cat meme during our lunch hour, and keep those details to yourself.
Another favorite – share the loving!
While a "love" button might seem relatively close to the already existing "like", we think adding one would help express a whole range of thoughts and feelings. For example, "love" could do double duty by not only expressing profound agreement and positive emotion, but also that sense of empathy developers now seek to capture through "disagree". Maybe the Beatles were right all along, and all we need is "love" after all?
Okay, last one – don't believe everything you see on the internet!
Designer humibest submitted so many poignant designs it was impossible to highlight just one. We love this one as a convenient short-hand for guarding our walls from ridiculous hear-say, conspiracy theories and alleged miracle cures. Truly a much-needed addition to the contemporary Facebook feed, after all, too many people didn't take Lincoln's advice when he said not to believe everything you see on the interent.
Want More?
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Written by Jane Murray on Thursday, October 15, 2015
Jane Murray is a freelance copywriter based in Sydney. Apart from writing up a storm for the DesignCrowd blog on anything from logo design to Michael Jackson's shoes, she enjoys reading literary science fiction and hanging out with most animals except wasps. Get in touch via LinkedIn.
