Why is Facebook only just now working on a dislike button?

There’s one thing that users have constantly begged for over the years, and Facebook has always denied them: a dislike button. The reason for this is that Facebook wanted to keep the site positive, and didn’t want to create the same kind of environment that Reddit has where criticism and down-voting come with virtually every post. However, now that the company’s active userbase is becoming increasingly more mature and filled with adults, Facebook has decided to release a dislike button for the first time ever, or at least, something close to a dislike button. 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that the company is finally working on a much-desired feature: a “dislike” button. According to Zuckerberg, this feature has long been one of those most-requested by the Facebook audience. Although his comments suggest that the new button more likely will express sympathy or empathy, rather than simple dislike, Facebook users have nevertheless greeted the announcement with enthusiasm. But why is Facebook introducing the button now, after so many years of audience lobbying and corporate resistance? One explanation could be the changing profile of the site’s users. Facebook is increasingly a technology used by mature adults, not vulnerable teens. While Facebook users have expressed a desire for a “dislike” button for many years, the company resisted its development because it did not want to, in Zuckerberg’s words, “turn Facebook into a forum where people are voting up or down on people’s posts.”