Facebook is opening up a Pandora’s box and launching a ‘Dislike’ button

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Be careful what you wish for kiddies, because this doozy is about to throw some unnecessary shade into your social media feed.

After years of requests, petitions, and the random incessant Facebook groups (ironically asking you to ‘like’ them to support the cause) that crop up every third Wednesday, Zuckerberg is finally listening to the people and working to bring out a ‘Dislike’ button.

Hold up now, this button isn’t quite what you expect. It’s not a way to passive aggressively show your disdain for another one of your cousin’s tacky car photos, or hate on a homophobic status by some gym-bro from high school. To be honest, this new feature isn’t even really a ‘dislike’ button.

In Zuckerberg’s words, “Some people have asked for a dislike button because they want to be able to say ‘that thing isn’t good,’ and we’re not going to do that. I don’t think that’s socially very valuable, or great for the community.” Ok, that’s definitely reasonable, and probably for the best. So what are we getting then, Zuck?

“What they really want is the ability to express empathy. Not every moment is a good moment”, answers the man whose business card reads, ‘I’m CEO, bitch’.* So, what are we looking at here? An ’empathy’ button?

Opening up the floodgates of alternative ways to lazily communicate, this one has the potential to get very messy. The social network which puts a high focus on being ‘feel good’ and spreading positivity (as evident by their ‘See your friendship with…’ and ‘Moments’ features), will now be looking at other ways to express how we feel about something at the touch of a button.

But I’m pretty sure we already have something that does just that. Isn’t that what the emoji is for? Or if Facebook’s after something more branded, haven’t they got their (never-ending, free-to-download) sticker store for that? If you think these icons are too trivial for certain instances, then just make the effort and post a comment. Providing a button that reduces your sentiments down to a single word or hand gesture is a pretty ineffective alternative.

Change can be a good thing, but in this cynic’s case, I think we should be hesitant to be applauding it just yet. If there’s one thing that’s been proven time and time again, it’s that the internet sucks. Trolls can be born out of everyone; whether it be brought on by a foul mood, missed lunch, or just wanting to be a dick without the face-to-face repercussion. There’s no doubt this button will be mis-used by some internet chump who thinks they’re being funny.

When it comes to the intimacy we feel about each status, photo, or video we publish, having someone come along and, perhaps not dislike it, but give us some weird ‘alternate’ response to it, isn’t exactly encouragement for people to keep sharing as much about themselves if they feel they’re being passive aggressively attacked. At the least, it’ll just cause confusion. If someone posts a status about a new relationship they feel great about, how are they meant to feel if they’re getting ’empathy’ likes from their ex’s mates.

Lack of commitment combined with a simplistic, reductive sentiment is the gateway drug to passive aggression. It’s too small an action to deserve a response, but still acts as an emotional jab all the same.

“We need to figure out the right way to do it so it ends up being a force for good, not a force for bad,” says Zuckerberg. If we’re not a fan of the new feature, hopefully there’ll be a button to express it.

*According to The Social Network (Fincher, 2010)