Facebook “Want” Button

Tom Waddington, the developer of Cut Out + Keep, discovered that this “Want” button has been added to the Facebook Javascript SDK (for those who do not know, Software Development Kit or SDK is a set of tools that allows app developer to create  applications). The “Want” button however is not publicly listed among the other social plugins. According to Waddington, with Open Graph, developers have been able to add the “Want” button to objects marked as “products”. However, users still need to authorize a third-party app in order for the button to work on Timeline or News Feed.

If “Like” button allows Facebook to collect the data about users’ interests, “Want” button could be a handy tool for Facebook to collect users’ desires data. Nowadays, the term “Like” is commonly used to show appreciation of a product. However, it is not possible to distinguish whether users “Like” a product because they want to buy the product or because they are giving a positive feedback after using it . This “Want” button can help marketers to distinguish those two interpretations.

It is not a secret anymore that many users demand more optional buttons for Facebook; the most popular one is the “Dislike” button. I personally think a “Like” button is sufficient to show people’s feeling towards the object; there is no need to add for example a “Dislike” button when you can simply show it by not clicking on the “Like” button. Aren’t I right? On the other hand, I quite like the idea of “Want” button, because I think it could help companies to understand the costumer’s attitude towards their products! What do you think?