Since Facebook became a nationally known social media site, users have repeatedly asked the site’s executives to institute a “dislike” button, so that users can express something other than simple appreciation for posts. Earlier this week, Mark Zuckerburg, Facebook’s founder and CEO, announced in a video interview that something akin to a “dislike” button is coming to Facebook.

Though this new button will allow users to express an emotion other than appreciation, it is not a “dislike” button per se. Facebook feels that promoting positive emotion among its users is more healthy for the site, and that a “dislike” button might actually hurt the overall atmosphere. Zuckerburg explains why such a button would not be healthy for Facebook and offers his company’s more positive response:

ThinkstockPhotos-483967228[O]ver the years of people asking for this, what we’ve kind of come to understand is that people aren’t looking an ability to downvote other people’s posts. What they really want is to be able to express empathy.

Not every moment is a good moment, right? And if you are sharing something that is sad, whether it’s something in current events like the refugee crisis that touches you or if a family member past away, then it might not feel comfortable to Like that post. But your friends and people want to be able to express that they understand and that they relate to you.

Zuckerburg is right. Encouraging the power of empathy and human relations is much more powerful than simply allowing people to vote something down or to click “dislike.” Facebook, as a company, continually seeks to build a healthy and friendly enviroment for its users. When engaging with your followers, you ought to do the same. Lists, pros and cons, and calls to action are all good, but without the proper appeal to humanity, you can achieve nothing.

Facebook represents a model of positivity for other online businesses to follow.

See Tech Crunch for more.