Facebook, already a hotbed for cyberbullying, is threatening to go one step further by introducing a new “Dislike” button, and supermodel turned actress, and i-D cover star, Cara Delevingne, isn’t happy. “If you can go around disliking someone’s pictures, that is going to set off a whole new wave of bullying,” Cara told The Sunday Times.
“These companies are making so much money, they just want the new thing. If it’s something that is going to cause people harm, I really think we should steer against that… ‘Like’ away — but if you have a bad thought about someone, keep it to yourself.” But that’s not to say that Cara doesn’t see the importance of social media as a source of information and a medium for young people, drawing their attention to certain global issues. “The youth of today especially the kids growing up now,” she adds, “have so much power to change things that are wrong with our society. It’s important that they have somebody to look up to, whether it’s me or someone else.”
Talk about a “Dislike” button arose back in September, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke of introducing it as a means for users to “express empathy” in difficult situations, such as last year’s Paris attacks, where people took to Facebook to check the status of their loved ones and to mourn those loved ones lost. However, there was a widespread backlash, with many warning against the button’s perceived negativity, and the psychological impact it could create, when abused. As a compromise, this week Facebook introduced a series of five reaction emojis, named “sad,” “love,” “haha,” “wow,” and “angry.” Whether or not these will bring about the same issues remains to be seen.