Facebook to soon have 'dislike' button, says Mark Zuckerberg

The wait could finally be over. The "dislike" button on Facebook is likely to become a reality soon.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, during a Q+A session held at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, said that the social networking site is "working on it, and are very close to shipping a test of it," reported the BBC. 

He said that they have been receiving requests from many users for a "dislike" button on Facebook for several years now. 

"People aren't looking for an ability to down-vote other people's posts, what they really want is to be able to express empathy," he said. 

Stating that "not every moment is a good moment", he explained that users may not feel comfortable in liking "sad", but would still want to express to their friends that they do understand. 

And Facebook wants to give them that option. 

However, reports suggest that the button is unlikely to be called "dislike". 

"We don't want to turn Facebook into a forum where people are voting up or down on people's posts," The Verge quotes Zuckerberg as saying. "That doesn't seem like the kind of community that we want to create: you don't want to go through the process of sharing some moment that was important to you in your day and have someone downvote it." 

A USA Today report states, "What will likely happen is that Facebook unveils a "sympathize" button or a series of buttons that convey support or solidarity or express other similarly positive emotions."

Facebook has reportedly refused to divulge any more information on the issue.