For the last few years, I’ve seen people arguing that Facebook should have a “dislike” button to go along with it’s infamous thumbs up. I had always hoped the site wouldn’t.
Today, it’s given options for communicating different emotions: like, love, haha, wow, sad, and angry. Now it hasn’t added a formal “dislike” button, but it did add a negative emotion which could carry the same connotation.
And it’s the “angry” button that I see the issue with. Now you have the option to be even more passively mean on Facebook. You don’t even have to type words, you can just drag your mouse to the red, frowning face to make a withdraw from the emotional back account of whoever has made a post.
As someone who works with students, with all of the harassment they can face online, now it has become even easier to be unkind. It will be simple for people or groups of people to troll posts.
Maybe you’ll argue, “yes but what if there’s a legitimate thing to dislike? Someone gets cancer or a relative passes away. Don’t we NEED the dislike button?” When there’s something bad that happens, instead of expressing concern by a click, you also have the option of actually interacting with someone, you know, like a human being.
The internet is already the Wild West of human interaction.
Click on a news story related to politics or religion and read the comments people are making and you will see hatred, disdain, and vitriol. People interact and say things online that they would often times never say to a person face to face. It gives anonymity and freedom to disregard sensibilities of common decency.
I ask: What does this add? How does this enhance the experience?
jrb
Josh Benner 