IDG Contributor Network: Why one data scientist thinks Facebook is adding a dislike button

There has been a lot of speculation why Facebook is adding a dislike button to its repertoire. Yes, I know…CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it wouldn’t be a dislike button — that would be too negative — but rather an icon for users to signify that they have read and acknowledged a certain post concerning things like the announcement of someone's death, but didn't "like" it.

Which is all well and good, but chances are no matter how it appears to Facebook users — perhaps this icon will be an emoticon or emoticons of various feelings — it will be acting as a dislike button behind the scenes.

That at least is a theory offered by Geoffrey Hueter, CTO and co-founder of Certona, a provider of real-time personalization technology. Hueter, though, is not a marketer, or rather he doesn’t have a marketing background.

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