Adding a ‘Dislike’ button would tarnish Facebook’s positive image

Graphic+by+Emily+Lodahl

Graphic by Emily Lodahl

Kelly Roehrig

Status update, friend request, new message, ad post, annoying status update from that friend from elementary school whose life has taken many turns in the wrong direction about how stoked he is to “turn up this weekend bro,” if only there was a way to stop that one blemish on the otherwise seamlessly perfect News Feed, and with the latest Facebook update the solution may be found. Along with many other features such as new emojis for Android users, Facebook has added an “unfollow” button that now allows users to control who shows up on their News feed. This new addition begs the question, what’s next?

Most people hope for the always wished for “dislike” button, so they can finally let their friends know just how dumb they think their useless status updates are, but this is exactly what Facebook does not want and what users should not get.

Facebook has become one of the world’s largest and most popular social media outlet in the past ten years, and has always shown hesitation to installing a “dislike” button for that reason, they want to stay on top. The only way to stay on top is to promote positive social interactions, if their site becomes a sea of negativity, so will their stock.

The psychology behind the “like” was recently studied by Larry Rosen Ph.D. in Rewired: The Psychology of Technology. Facebook defines “like” as, “a way to give positive feedback or to connect with things you care about on Facebook,” when in reality “like” can mean anything as a verb, mean of comparison, or emotions such as, “I feel lukewarm about, things I’m fond of and objects toward which I exhibit a smoldering passion.”

In a study of 1,390 adults, Rosen found that the “impulse click” online was much easier for people to do than face-to-face empathy, but the person on the receiving end of these “impulse clicks” interprets it as much more. People are in constant need of positive reassurance and the “like” button gives it to them, where a “dislike” button would lead to much harsher realities.

The sole existence of a “like” button allows for users to only see positive positive feedback. Yes, 46 people liked your super awesome status, but the rest of your 300 and some friends simply scrolled past or disliked what you said, but without a “dislike” button you would never know, but do you really want to?

When confronted on the issue of adding a “dislike button,” an anonymous Facebook engineer wrote, “Actions on Facebook tend to focus on positive social interactions. Like is the lightest-weight way to express positive sentiment. I don’t think adding a light-weight way to express negative sentiment would be that valuable. I know there are times when it’d make sense, like when a friend is having a rough day, or got into a car accident like my sister yesterday (she’s okay!). For these times, a nice comment from a friend goes a long way.”

But unfortunately, a “dislike” button has the ability to do much worse. It adds a whole other element to cyberbullying that could be harmful to today’s youth from a company that promotes positive social interaction.

While other social media sites such as YouTube feature a “dislike” button and it would offer ways for personal users to express their true opinion, it is not the right place for Facebook. Facebook prides itself on being a positive site and has strong relations with other companies that have their own pages for people to “like.” If people could “dislike,” these relationships could be at risk.

According to Pete Cashmore of CNN, “It would create significant tension between Facebook, brands, and web publishers. Imagine if Facebook users could not only choose to “Like” Coca-Cola, but were also provided the option to “Dislike” the brand. Would Facebook become a more appealing place for brands to spend their marketing budgets and ad dollars … or a less appealing one? Now imagine that websites could add “Dislike” buttons to their pages. Would web publishers rush to add this option, desperate for the negative feedback from their visitors? Hardly.”

It is essential for Facebook to hold back on the addition of a “dislike” button just yet. But it is not just Facebook that needs to think, but its users. There are more ramifications than meets the eye, and what they think they want will harm them in the end.