Nowadays almost every site on the web supports a Facebook Like button. But when did you first see the famous Like button? Exactly a year ago! Yes, that means our beloved Facebook Like button has just celebrated it's first birthday on April 21, 2011. Since it's release, the Like button has become ubiquitous on the net. Over 50,000 websites included the button within a week of its launch and over 2.5 million till date, including this blog. To commemorate the first anniversary of the button, Facebook posted the accompanying pic on its official profile showing how the Like button appears to people across the world in as many as 75 different languages. Facebook commented on the pic: "Happy 1st birthday, Like button! For a one-year old, the Like button sure has a lot of friends. More than 10,000 sites add the Like button every day. Tell us what the Like button has meant to you.".
Like button means empowerment, a sign that people paid attention to the post. Like button means different things to different people. For some, clicking it is a way of expressing their approval or affirmation with the post. For some, it is a way of showing courtesy to the poster, even if they haven't even read the post. And then there are those who click every Like button they come across without even knowing the context of the post, as if there was a competition going on. Such behavior may lead to negativity and insensitivity. Take this photo as an example. There is nothing wrong with the Nat Geo website and neither there is anything wrong about this tsunami aftermath photo. But disturbing thing is people clicking the Like button for this photo (as many as 908 crass individuals have liked it by now). Should we really be liking this image of a disaster?
So, perhaps it is time for a Dislike button. To dislike all those inane status updates, dislike all those run of the mill rumors, dislike obscene posts, dislike churlish likes. The possibilities are endless. But would it ever be released? Facebook has already been linked with depression. A Dislike button is only going to add to the feeling of rejection. And with Facebook and other social networking sites already the target of anti-bullying campaigns, so it’s imperative that any sort of negative feedback option for statuses and posts would really amplify this. Hence, a better option may be to use Recommend button instead of Like button, specially so on media sites which do have to report on negative news on a daily basis, so as to keep the callous people from showing their insensitivity.
But the success of the Like Button has prompted competitors such as Google to announce a new service called +1. Tweeter launched it's own Tweet button in August 2010, despite the availability of number of third party buttons. Like it or Dislike it, such social networking buttons are here to stay and they are only going to be even more omnipresent, becoming an intimate part of everybody's online experience. For now, lets keep liking the stuff we actually like and refrain from liking absurd status updates and negative news. So, why not begin right here and click that Like button below or above this post?
Like button means empowerment, a sign that people paid attention to the post. Like button means different things to different people. For some, clicking it is a way of expressing their approval or affirmation with the post. For some, it is a way of showing courtesy to the poster, even if they haven't even read the post. And then there are those who click every Like button they come across without even knowing the context of the post, as if there was a competition going on. Such behavior may lead to negativity and insensitivity. Take this photo as an example. There is nothing wrong with the Nat Geo website and neither there is anything wrong about this tsunami aftermath photo. But disturbing thing is people clicking the Like button for this photo (as many as 908 crass individuals have liked it by now). Should we really be liking this image of a disaster?
So, perhaps it is time for a Dislike button. To dislike all those inane status updates, dislike all those run of the mill rumors, dislike obscene posts, dislike churlish likes. The possibilities are endless. But would it ever be released? Facebook has already been linked with depression. A Dislike button is only going to add to the feeling of rejection. And with Facebook and other social networking sites already the target of anti-bullying campaigns, so it’s imperative that any sort of negative feedback option for statuses and posts would really amplify this. Hence, a better option may be to use Recommend button instead of Like button, specially so on media sites which do have to report on negative news on a daily basis, so as to keep the callous people from showing their insensitivity.
But the success of the Like Button has prompted competitors such as Google to announce a new service called +1. Tweeter launched it's own Tweet button in August 2010, despite the availability of number of third party buttons. Like it or Dislike it, such social networking buttons are here to stay and they are only going to be even more omnipresent, becoming an intimate part of everybody's online experience. For now, lets keep liking the stuff we actually like and refrain from liking absurd status updates and negative news. So, why not begin right here and click that Like button below or above this post?
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