After years of awkwardly "Liking" posts about lost pets and family tragedies, Facebook finally gave us a new way to share our feelings. Last week, the company rolled out five new reactions so you can share expressions such as Love, Haha, Wow, Sad or Angry on Facebook posts. Model and actress Cara Delevingne isn't so happy with the change, though.
"If you can go around disliking someone's pictures, that is going to set off a whole new wave of bullying," Delevingne told The Sunday Times. "'Like' away — but if you have a bad thought about someone, keep it to yourself."
Good advice, Delevingne. But fortunately for all of us, Facebook didn't go with a pure "Dislike" button. Rather, the social network introduced different emotions you can share on a post to better express empathy. Sharing that you are sad or angry about a post doesn't have the same negative connotation as, say, a downvote on Reddit — which is a more direct expression of dislike.
Perhaps Facebook's new reactions could even help curb bullying, or make it less hurtful. If you post some disappointing news and get a bunch of "Sad" reactions and one or two asshole comments, maybe those comments will be more easy to shrug off than before, when you could only share "Likes."
While we're still getting used to the new reactions, it seems Facebook made a shrewd move, at least when it comes to dealing with cyberbullying.
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