How many times have we seen that yappy girl from high school posting 20 pictures of her dog on Facebook? Or even the oh-too-often political rant statuses that claim to solve the world’s problems? Sometimes we feel inclined to comment our annoyance, but many times, we simply just roll our eyes and show the post to our friend sitting next to us. But on September 15, 2015, Facebook announced that they are developing a function to fulfill our cynical hopes and dreams– the ‘dislike’ button.
During a live town hall meeting on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerbe
rg confirmed that Facebook will introduce a ‘dislike’ button. It’s been a long time coming, Mark! Facebook has been a place for people to cry and rant for a long time because they know they’re able to hide behind the security of a keyboard. Zuckerberg explained that he realized people want to express other emotions rather than ‘like’ when approached with sensitive subjects such as the Syrian refugee crisis.
What’s interesting, though, is that for years Zuckerberg refused to create the user in-demand ‘dislike’ button. He originally believed that the button would increase negativity. He even said, “That isn’t what we’re here to build in the world.” So, now, the question is, what changed his campaign against pessimism? Was it peer pressure leading him to making the digital change? Or was he truly wanting people to express empathy?
Either way, things are about to change big-time on Facebook. Since Zuckerberg started it in 2004, the classic ‘like’ button has been an ad for the Facebook app. Nine years later, will the ‘dislike’ button do the same thing? Though maybe, yes, the new button will give users a way to express their personal issues with human rights problems or cruel intentions, but what about the rest of the population who don’t have such pure intent?
Is it possible Zuckerberg just created a whole new tool for cyber bullying? What if a young girl posts a picture of herself and her crush ‘dislikes’ it? Does she suck it up? Is it considered bullying? Who knows where the digital age will draw the line. It is interesting to think about the concept of a ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ on Facebook in the first place. Is it simply just a click of a button, or is a ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ something a little bit deeper? As Zuckerberg’s new function comes to the limelight, maybe it’s time to consider Facebook’s (and Twitter and Instagram and Tumblr and YikYak, for that matter) role in what we ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ in real life.
For more information regarding the new Facebook tool, visit these sites:
http://appadvice.com/ipadwebview/2015/09/yes-facebook-is-actually-developing-a-dislike-button
http://fortune.com/2015/09/15/facebook-dislike-button/
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