The like button was an excellent initiative but the dislike and lol buttons are prooving a bit of disaster and should be reviewed.
I get the reason the dislike button was introduced. It could be argued the like button encouraged bubble thinking if you only saw how many people liked your post and not how many disagreed with it. However there is a key difference between the like and dislike button that I think is being missed. Its the impact on argument and this actually is reinforcing bubble think rather than providing a counterpoint to agreeing with a post.
When you like a post you are liking the argument made in the post. There is no reason for you to post the same argument as its already been posted. When you dislike a post and simply use the dislike button you are saying you dont like what is posted but are not providing the counterpoint argument. Before the dislike button existed you were encouraged to post a counter argument. The dislike button implies you dont need to provide a counter argument. You can now voice that you dislike a post without providing any reasoning. Its basically the whinging toddler button: "I dont like it". Its stifling discussion. Its actually reinforcing bubble think because it discourages you to think up a rational argument and allows you to voice your emotional responses without judgement or thought.
The lol button has similar problems. I get it was introduced to encourage comedy and a more light hearted forum. But I would say at least 80 percent of the time, if not more, its being used to laugh at a poster rather than the post. Its become an insult button. Under big footy rules we are given infractions for posting one word insults, however, bigfooty is now providing its own insult button even if this wasnt what was intended. The use of the insult button just angers people and gets people offended.
I would encourage both emojis be reviewed and either changed in how they are implemented or removed.
I get the reason the dislike button was introduced. It could be argued the like button encouraged bubble thinking if you only saw how many people liked your post and not how many disagreed with it. However there is a key difference between the like and dislike button that I think is being missed. Its the impact on argument and this actually is reinforcing bubble think rather than providing a counterpoint to agreeing with a post.
When you like a post you are liking the argument made in the post. There is no reason for you to post the same argument as its already been posted. When you dislike a post and simply use the dislike button you are saying you dont like what is posted but are not providing the counterpoint argument. Before the dislike button existed you were encouraged to post a counter argument. The dislike button implies you dont need to provide a counter argument. You can now voice that you dislike a post without providing any reasoning. Its basically the whinging toddler button: "I dont like it". Its stifling discussion. Its actually reinforcing bubble think because it discourages you to think up a rational argument and allows you to voice your emotional responses without judgement or thought.
The lol button has similar problems. I get it was introduced to encourage comedy and a more light hearted forum. But I would say at least 80 percent of the time, if not more, its being used to laugh at a poster rather than the post. Its become an insult button. Under big footy rules we are given infractions for posting one word insults, however, bigfooty is now providing its own insult button even if this wasnt what was intended. The use of the insult button just angers people and gets people offended.
I would encourage both emojis be reviewed and either changed in how they are implemented or removed.
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