So a common question and Facebook "issue" that has been discussed is how it still lacks the much desired "dislike" button. In fact, the page that calls for a dislike button currently holds over 3,000,000 people, or roughly 4% of the total population of France. That's a pretty big number. Arguments that are pro-dislike button range anywhere from arguing it would discourage pointless posts to the logic that websites like Youtube have both a "thumbs up" and "thumbs down", so why not Facebook? And, logically speaking, since social media is arguably for it's users, why won't Facebook staff change it's formatting to meet their desires? (Especially with how quickly it changes it's formatting, anyway).
There are two main answers to this question: The first has more to do with business. Since many company's use this "like" button as a means of seeing who "likes" their product, they can promote their company through use of social media. If Facebook were to add a dislike button, people would also use this button for these company's pages, which would look bad on the company's part, and does damage to their business. Even if Facebook reformatted it's website so these businesses don't have a dislike button, it would probably draw complaints from the users, since this may come off as trying too hard to promote certain companies, not allowing for people to express their real opinion of them, etc. And Facebook programmers know that, to keep the website going, they need these company advertisements, so in order to keep them from going away, the dislike button has not been added. Also, part of it is the fear of it promoting bullying. People could easily use the dislike button to dislike statuses of people they don't like, and it could hurt self-esteem of those who receive many of these dislikes. With the idea of "trolling" and cyberbullying becoming a bigger issue in today's society, it's no wonder this fear has come about.
Now, to keep this blog post less complex, I'd mostly like to focus on the bullying-ideology of the "dislike" button. (Though I may do a future post on the more involved relations of social media/business). This idea raises one main questions: Does America try too hard to "filter" everything into a nice culture? Yes, Facebook itself is internationally used, but the company itself is based and created in America, thus the company runs on American ideas. Do we have the right to be rude? Does taking measures to reduce acts of bullying reduce rates of bullying or only cover up the problem?
It's a tricky question. In my opinion, I personally believe not installing a "dislike" button is a smart choice. I feel like it will serve nothing more than to make people feel anxious and self-conscious about their statuses and posts, and feel less comfortable expressing themselves online. Trolling does exist, I don't deny that, but when you actually create a button that tells people to be rude to others, that's enforcing this rudeness. This isn't desensitizing: it's avoiding an issue that's really unnecessary to bring about in the first place.For me, I personally dislike the idea of a dislike button.
Also, in terms of the Youtube argument, I feel it's more acceptable to allow a dislike button. Most people on Youtube use it not to interact with friends, but to post videos about, well, just about everything. Since many of these videos come from actual film-makers or people hoping to get more viewers to their videos, knowing what people like from your video can help you achieve this goal.
And now I open up the question to all of you. Do you think the dislike button is a good idea? Do you think America tries too hard to "filter" what is good and bad? What do you think of concepts such as "trolling" and cyber bullying? Are these issues or overreactions? Also, just interesting, since Youtube allows dislikes and Facebook does not, do you think this speaks to the idea of it being easier to insult those we don't know as well? Let me know in the comments below.
For more interesting articles on the logic of the dislike button, check out the links below (there are also plenty more if you type in "why there is no Facebook dislike button" onto Google):
http://live.wsj.com/video/why-doesnt-facebook-have-a-dislike-button/11AB2B22-D8BA-4725-A0C2-4A47D16C910C.html#!11AB2B22-D8BA-4725-A0C2-4A47D16C910C
http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/10/10/facebook-dislike-button-why-it-will-never-happen/
You can be rude, disrepectful, and bully without a dislike button. I think a dislike button would actually be less offensive than someone typing out a comment to express their undying hatred. Words are far more powerful than a thumbs down.
ReplyDeleteA dislike button would make it a lot easier to bully others. Some people would be more hesitant to use actual words, but a click of a button is easy. It would be easy for people to gang up on their peers. Say an easily bullied girl posts a picture of herself to facebook in her new homecoming dress. Few people would say "you look awful, that's so ugly." (At least fewer people would.) However, by adding a dislike button so many people would be able to join a crowd of bullies in an attempt to look "cool." Having a large amount of dislikes from all of your peers is just as hurtful as a nasty comment.
ReplyDeleteHmm, a tricky question, to dislike or not to dislike? I would say that the potential of a dislike button to hurt a person's self esteem is far greater than other messaging since it's not like it can be blocked by the person. Also, even though it's an opinion, it's still more impersonal just to have a little dislike symbol to appear instead of something that hopefully has reasons attached.(and if they're stupid just delete them!)
ReplyDeleteAs far as cyber bullying is concerned, I don't really think that it would have that big of an effect on it. Though it is easier to click dislike than nastily comment on something, there will always be mean people who just want to tear others down to build themselves up. How they do that (through a nasty comment or dislike)doesn't matter because it will always have an effect on the bullied. As for America and filtering, I think that in certain cases we do, but in others we don't and I think that it is largely due to media exposure. Look at a news program. All one hears about is death and destruction and none of the good things happening (random acts of kindness). However, when something happens where a large group of Americans wants to filter out something they deem "bad", it immediately gains support through media exposure.
ReplyDelete