14 DAY TRIAL // The Facebook Like feature has proven quite popular and it has become very much a part of the social network. Facebook has recently launched a Like button for the web, so the term looks like it's here to stay. And, now, the social network is extending its reach again with a new Like button for comments. Users will now be able to "like" a comment just like they do with status updates. It's a small change, but the implications may be much bigger and may change the way comments are treated, especially for Facebook Fan Pages with thousands of them for each entry.
"Since first launching the 'Like' feature in 2009 and the ability to comment on News Feed stories in 2008, we've seen these features become central to the way people communicate on Facebook. They're two of the most heavily used features on the site and have proven to be a simple way to discuss posts and show appreciation for the content friends share on Facebook," Facebook engineer Tom Whitnah wrote.
"So like peanut butter and jelly, we realized these two features would go better together. Starting today, most of you will see a small 'Like' button appear underneath comments. We're rolling this out gradually, so if you don't see the new button yet you will soon," he announced.
If you known how the Like feature in general works, you'll understand the "likable" comments. A Like link will show up next to the comments and a counter will indicate how many people have liked it. For now, it's useful to see the comments that people found the most valuable, but Facebook isn't doing anything with the data that it will gather.
Later on, though, it could use it to build a reputation system of sorts or to introduce a new sorting system for comments, similar to what YouTube did to revamp comments. Like YouTube, entries on Facebook can quickly rack up thousands of comments and it becomes impossible to follow them. By surfacing the ones that other users found helpful, it ensures that good comments don't get drowned by the rest. Facebook is rolling out the new feature slowly, so you might not be seeing it yet.