Dislike THIS.

Facebook is thinking of introducing a 'dislike' button.

Not, it says, so that you can register your disagreement with or dislike of what someone writes. I imagine that this is because it might cause offence: no one these days likes to be disagreed with, particularly if they're wrong, when it often swiftly escalates to become a matter of that curious notion 'the right to an opinion'. Worse - I imagine -  it could be damaging to the writer's self-esteem with all the costs of medication, litigation and, who knows, self-immolation that might follow.

No, it's so that you can AGREE with them, which I had naively taken to be one of the more obviously incontestable functions of the 'Like' button.

So, for example, if I post a picture of a rich, obese American lording it over an elephant he has bravely turned into an omelette with a Krupp field gun from a mile away, people can register their shared disgust by pressing 'Dislike'.

OK, but what if I were to criticise an odious government policy or racist pressure group? Half of you may agree with my impeccable sentiments and press 'Like'; the other half may agree with my impeccable sentiments and register their disapproval of the matter under discussion by pressing 'Dislike'.

What a load of mushy - and dislikeably confusing - rubbish!

I might know exactly what I mean by 'Like' and 'Dislike', and you - and you, and you - will each know what you each mean by them too. But the meaning stops there, thus making both actions pointless in terms of actual communication, which is what Facebook is meant to enhance not diminish.

I know, let's do away with 'Likes' and 'Dislikes' altogether. Instead, let's say what we mean, not pour open minds into empty vessels.