Finally a "DISLIKE" button!?

Thumbs up... or thumbs down?

After years of social media speculation, Facebook is finally working on a DISLIKE button! Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO announced the news at a town hall meeting yesterday, confirming the feature has been requested so much that the company is finally moving forward with the project.

But, the button might not be exactly what we're thinking. Facebook doesn't want the new "dislike" button to serve as a way to "downvote" posts.  So, moving away from that Reddit-style voting, the new button is meant to express other emotions besides the inferred positivity of the "Like" button.

Maybe you've had this happen to you before.  Your friend's pet just passed, or their grandma is sick.  You want to show you see the post and are thinking of them.  Do you "like" it?  Or, say, you are reading a news article about a devastating shooting and you want to show you care.  Do you "like" the article? These are the situations that call for a different type of button.  Zuckerberg said, "What (people) really want is the ability to express empathy.  Not every moment is a good moment."

So, the button might not be called "dislike".  What do you think the new Facebook button should be called?

VMA Craziness Heats Up Twitter

The VMAs have been a hotbed for controversy the past few years.  Typically, this controversy plays out louder and longer on social media.  Even today, a few days after the VMAs, Miley, Kanye and a host of other VMA topics are still trending worldwide.  And it is no wonder, the awards show has gotten crazier and crazier every year.  Plus, MTV has been focused heavily on increasing social media engagement.  For example, this year MTV created its own unique emoji for the show.  The neon-colored Moonman emoji is inspired by the Moonman-shaped award that is given to VMA winners.  All tweets that used the hashtags #VMA or #VMAs were tagged with this exclusive emoji. 

And, this tactic worked, blowing up engagement on social media.  In the US, 2.2 million people send 21.4 million tweets around the VMAs, up almost 70% from last year.  The hashtag prompted 4.19 million uses, almost threefold the 1.44 million hashtagged tweets from last year.  And, notably, the VMAs were the most-tweeted non-sports program since October 2011.  

What were the most tweeted about moments?  Get ready for a countdown!  And, you might want to hold on to your seats, these crazy moments make for one bumpy ride!

5. Taylor Swift and Kanye (27,162 tweets)

Taylor and Kanye have had an awkward relationship since he famously interrupted her acceptance speech in 2009.  This year, she introduced him at the VMAs!

4. Nicki vs. Miley (27,441 tweets)

Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj went head to head with snarky criticism that was sparked earlier this year when Cyrus bashed Minaj in the New York Times.  

3. Justin Bieber's breakdown (80,136 tweets)

Justin Bieber knows how to blow up social media.  His tearful breakdown after his performance of "What Do You Mean" prompted an outcry of its own.

2. Miley's malfunction (147,285 tweets)

Common, did you really think you'd make it through an awards show without a wardrobe malfunction?

1. Kanye's speech (551,466 tweets)

He can't really be running for president, can he?  I wouldn't put anything past Kanye West, and the rapper's 10 minute long acceptance speech ranked as the top-tweeted moment of the VMAs!

What was your favorite moment of the VMAs?