Last week, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is working on their newest feature: a dislike button. This has been a long-awaited addition to the social media outlet, but is it something that will change Facebook for the better?
Zuckerberg supports this feature as a way for users to express feelings other than positive ones. "What they really want is the ability to express empathy. Not every moment is a good moment," says Zuckerberg; This is true. How many times have you seen a post about someone’s lost relative, but have been unsure if "liking" their post was an appropriate response? Or you have wanted to acknowledge a news article your Facebook friend shared that you thought was well written, but had a less-than-happy topic? It is clear that there are just some situations that make a simple "like" seem inappropriate, but Facebook is leaving out an important consequence that could arise from this new feature: bullying.
Cyber bullying has become a more prominent issue as technology becomes more widespread and as the kids who use it become younger.According to dosomething.com, 43 percent of kids have experienced bullying online. If you have been anywhere near social media in the past decade, I am sure you have witnessed some form of it, whether it be a nasty comment on a Facebook photo or an indirect (but still obvious) subtweet on your Twitter feed.
Facebook has just made these cyber bullies’ jobs a little easier. By adding a dislike button, they will create a simpler route for negative dialogue to come up your news feed. There’s no argument for the fact that when people are behind a computer screen, they are more likely to project their negative opinions than when they are in person. Adding a dislike button will encourage these negative interactions. Think about how many posts you have seen on Facebook that you have been unhappy about, scrolling over the like button but not feeling strongly enough to comment something unpleasant? Now, there is an option for users to express those negative emotions (even at the expense of other users' happiness or self-esteem).
We do appreciate Zuckerberg's attempt at innovating Facebook, but I am unsure that this is the way to go. We all know that Facebook might need to stand out, to keep up with other social media outlets like Instagram and Twitter, but this isn’t the answer. So, Zuckerberg, lets keep Facebook a happy place and not introduce a dislike button.
