Well we know THAT won’t happen because of the state the
nation is in right now. We’re divided, we’re colorized and we’re full of
DISLIKE for more than we LIKE.
I was thinking of writing to Mr. Zuckerburg to offer some
suggestions for a ‘possible’ dislike button. While the Like button, introduced
in February 2009, is used up to 4.5 billion times each day, I’m sure I have a
few friends who have used half of those millions in one week.
I personally think the LIKE button is as demeaning as Mr.
Zuckerburg feels the DISLIKE button would be. Maybe the like button was for you
to feel good about yourself, but not much unlike being in a schoolyard with
surrounding friends, when one child is left in the corner with NO ONE liking
them, it can begin to feel very isolating; intentional or unintentional.
Here’s my ideas:
Instead of a like/dislike button, why not have a like button
with options? It hurts (yes truly hurts my heart) to see people announce the
death of a loved one and people LIKE it? I think they’re trying to express
emotion without actually using WORDS of condolences. Emoticons can only do so
much. A heart symbol means love, it doesn’t mean an offering of sympathy,
empathy, prayer or agreement. Simply put emoticons display emotions of love,
happy, sad, angry and so on.
When I purchase an item online I’m often asked when giving a
review of the product--
Do you: LIKE, NOT SO MUCH, AGREE, or DISAGREE. I think the
like button on facebook should be upgraded with the changing trends of this
world. Give us options.
Just like those questions on products, facebook offers a
place to ‘leave a message’; many choose not to express emotions and click the
LIKE button for no apparent reason other than clicking to acknowledge that they
saw the post.
When a review is left for a product, again we’re given
options:
Was this review helpful yes or no.
Quite simple. We’re given options!
I think Mr. Z is apprehensive for fear of it affecting
advertisements, trolls, and bullies. We have options whether we want to SEE the
ads, or choices of what we DON’T MIND seeing, so why can’t the LIKE button
express more emotion. Facebook is an emotionally driven site. We need more than
emoticons, again, they just don’t cover it all! We need choices!
If Mr. Z is afraid of the downside of a DISLIKE button, why
not take the LIKE button away completely and replace it with the silly
emoticons? Then when someone dies, the emoticon with tears can express what the
person wants to say. If someone disagrees with a post, the angry face emoticon,
smiley will replace LIKE, and a heart will signify LOVE. THEN a person can
actually feel free to use WORDS to convey their joy, sadness, sympathy or love
for a post in the message box.
An example: Joni received – 5 smiley faces, five angry
faces, 1 million hearts. Okay I exaggerated the hearts a bit.
Here’s another suggestion for FRIENDS. Have you ever seen a
person with over 300 – 800 or even a thousand friends? What is up with THAT? Do
they seriously know these people or are they friend thieving? Jumping on the
grab-a-friend-of-a-friend bandwagon?
I love the LISTS. We can name them and then click on what we
see in our feed. I have a WRITER list and view what my writing friends are
posting. My suggestion is this, what can people see on my wall? That option is
FRIENDS ONLY which kind of stinks if you have a bandwagon of friends. I would
LOVE to see OPTIONS of who can see this! FAMILY, friends, close friends, etc. Not
too hard but apparently Mr. Z wants us sharing with total, possibly stalking
strangers! Just because a friend APPEARS nice, is not always the case when he begins stalking you now is it?
We live in a techno text world, one I am not accustomed to
in any way. If I go to a page and see a bunch of txt lingo I click away from
it quicker than you can blink an eye. I will not be dragged into trying to
interpret what people are TRYING to say. Can’t people write WORDS anymore?
Can’t people express themselves like normal people? I have one or two friends
who actually uses words, it’s comforting to know out of millions of people
caught up in this age of technology, I can find two or even three that still
use words to express their emotions.
Mr. Z, something needs to change. The site is no longer a
social friendly service for teens, it is a community of adults overwhelmed by
not being able to express themselves. If the emoticons do it for people, give
them what they want. Me, I’ll just keep writing for myself. “Better to write
for myself and have no public, than to write (and be a showcase) and have no
SELF!”
Here! Here!
