The Right to a Dislike Button Becomes a Cultural Debate

 In the wake of the recent negative buzz around the Dislike button scam, FaceMod CEO Ron Sharpp goes on record defending his thumbs-down plug-in as the real deal. "For those who are wondering, the Dislike Button is not for the haters! It was made to be the 'yang' to Facebook's 'yin." Sharpp even goes so far as to claim, "We're trying to bring democracy to the Internet."

I imagine I'm not the only one to see the irony of such grandiose aspirations from a software whose primary goal is to allow people to express discontent. 

Everyone from Mashable's Pete Cashmore to tech cynic Dan Tynan has an opinion on the likelihood, or if you will, disliklihood, of Facebook giving way to the pressure and creating an official Dislike button. The arguments have gone beyond simple technical issues and, as seen in Sharpp's utopian quips above, have reached a critical mass of commentary on who we aspire to be as a culture—Likers or Dislikers.

Is the Dislike Button the Yin to the Internet's Yang?

Yin Yang is used to describe how "polar or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn." Unfortunately, ancient Chinese philosophers were not made privy to the physics of web traffic, where basically hits are hits, no matter the direction of the thumb. The Yin Yang model would hold true only if five negative reactions canceled out five positive reactions in relevance rankings. Clicking Dislike to express discontent with content would only make it more likely to be viewed. Furthermore, Yin is known for expressing power through yielding. If you want to exert Yin on the Internet, or life, as we're dealing in metaphors, the best lesson is this: Don't like it? Don't touch it.

Will Adding a Dislike Button Bring Democracy to the Internet?

The primary manifestation of a democracy is voting day. On said day, we spend most of our time being forced to wait, watch and listen to the mobs around us, when all we want to do is get into the booth where we actually have a voice. When was the last time you took extra time to vote for all your DisLikes? Democracy is about using our voices to lift up voices with which we agree and whom we respect. Dear Mr.Sharpp, I believe a mob of mudslingers are more closely aligned with anarchy. Fire your speech writer.

Survival Guide for Cynics

So what do you do if you're a contrarian by nature and the missing negative counterpart to all this Liking that's run amuck is causing a back-up of caustic energy that's about to burst? Real cynics like myself already know it, but I'll include this *breaking news* for rookies. People who behave badly, in life or online, like bad attention. They'll roll around in all your thumbs-down clicks like a pig in poop. Starvation is the only cure. Hide them, block them, spend hours in PhotoShop giving their profile pic three extra chins for your own gratification, but don't ever, ever feed the trolls. And as for those banal updates about their seven loads of finished laundry that warrant an ice cream ending to their day? Don't ever match a bore with a boor. It's not a fair match. Let them have their whipped-cream lives and save your jaded repartees for those armed for retort. 

What if You Only Want to Dislike Something in Solidarity?

Sharpp claims that the primary intent of his plug-in is to provide friends an option to comment on bad news, like illness or a bad day at work, without seeming insensitive by saying they "Like" the misfortune. And again, I'll offer some *cutting-edge* cultural insight as a solution. When people are sad, they find comfort in YOUR WORDS. While a high-five, thumbs up, and round of applause are culturally appropriate responses to good news, a mute face paired with a thumbs down would generally register as inefficient, one may even say creepy, in the face of another's sadness. Use your words, people. And for those whose entire verbal capacity has atrophied from click-through relationships, a sad-faced emoticon will surely suffice, and will undoubtedly provide comfort to no end.

One Thing I Like about the Dislike Plug-in

As of now, the only people who can see that you've DisLiked something are others with the plug-in. There's something deliciously karmic about that. If only real life worked that way.

How about you? Dislike the Like? Like the Dislike? Either way, I'd Like to hear.

 Jen Wright is a social media strategist in the Detroit area who is endlessly fascinated by the cultural implications of new media.