NEW FACEBOOK EMOJIS TENDERLY CARESS YOUR HEART MEAT
Facebook has stated that they were simply reacting to the user base, who wanted more ways to express themselves. Clearly, taking a step back from forming basic sentences to emote thoughts was the clear course of action. Hieroglyphics have become part of our communication lexicon, with more poop emojis being traded than actual conversations about bowel movements. Conversation is so 1990s.
Not everyone is totally pleased about the new emojis, or at least, they have a strong apathetic reaction. One area man told me, “It’s just another Facebook-focused time suck. For the most part, I’ll just like a post, even if I love it, lolz it, have a brain fart about it or you tick me off.” Mind you, that area man left that comment on Facebook when I asked about the new emojis. Further research shows that he did not like the post.
There is a sense of misplaced reality to these new emojis. Are they reflective of how we actually feel? Of course not. We struggle daily to properly emote on social media, most people unable to even comprehend the psychological stress of publicly displayed emotion. These emojis simply provide another emotional box to place our true feelings into, without the stress of actually having to put into words what we really feel. That’s what all emojis do. Is clicking the heart emoji actually an expression of love? Of course not. But is it easier than actually saying that you love something? Of course it is.
Another area man told me, “Like all social media site changes I am currently ambivalent, but will come to accept them within the coming weeks… or it’s the end of the world as we know it and I’m ready to riot in protest.” I may have pushed him to step up the ire on that second bit. Regardless, we are still being enabled by social media to pretend that we feel things we actually feel nothing for. There is nothing wrong with a little apathy, or not liking something. So why do we do it?
We do it because we want to be seen.
We want to be heard and we want to be known. It’s not enough to just consume the content (which is a totally separate psychological issue that warrants further discussion) but we want to be part of the conversation — even if it’s just a notation that we’ve seen it. Is that really being part of the conversation or is it just empty validation of the conversation taking place? It’s a sick cycle of self-validation and ego stroking that reared its head with the advent of social media and doesn’t show any signs of stopping.
Facebook is of course using these ‘reactions’ to tailor news feeds and by extension, advertisements. We’re using them to hide behind our emotional walls and neglect our ability to truly communicate. It is said that social media is a platform for sharing, but it has morphed into more a platform for broadcasting. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but when emotions get washed away into a puddle of what could be Jell-O on the sidewalk there could be long-lasting effects. The best part of these ‘reactions’ is the chance for misinterpretation.
With a simple ‘like’, it just was a validation that you saw that thing that someone posted. Now, we have a few more tools to enable confusion — which in turn could enable conversation. “I wasn’t angry that you posted that thing, I was angry at the content so I agree with you assuming you are also angry at the content.” Which is why the image on this article better illustrates the true motives behind each ‘reaction’ (though doesn’t cover all the ‘reactions’ we really need). We’re all selfish assholes, Facebook has just made it six times easier for others to see what kind of asshole we are.
source:
forbes.com
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