We’ve all been in the awkward position of trying to show emotional support to a friend on Facebook. They announce the death of a loved one, or perhaps the loss of a job, and the only recourse we have as their sympathetic peers is to add our condolences, and then hit “like.” As many have whinged in the past, “like” is hardly the appropriate response. If a friend gets into a car wreck, or perhaps needs surgery, you – along with millions of other Facebook users – want to show your support without hitting “like” and sounding like a sadistic monster; “I like that you got injured” is not what you were going for.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to CNET, has announced that he is finally working on a solution to the problem. Facebook is currently working on installing a “dislike” button, which may be the single most innovative user element added to the site in many years.
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Although younger people are increasingly eschewing Facebook, the social media website is still one of the most widely used sites on the internet, and has come to be more than a place to flirt and share pictures of your lunch. It has become a massive agora-like forum for discourse, where people go for news, a daily dose of outrage, and discuss social change; recall the still-used rainbow filter for the SCOTUS gay marriage announcement? A “dislike” button may not seem like much, but it actually can make conversations that much more complex. Imagine a world where you no longer have to like everything.
It’s coming.
Witney Seibold is a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
