By: Nicholas Renard
It seems Facebook can no longer go a week without some sort of makeover. In yet another tweak in the ever-evolving Facebook dimension, statuses will no longer be limited to text and photo announcements. Facebook users in the United States and eventually around the world will soon have the option of sharing how they’re feeling through assorted smiley faces and corresponding emotions.
This addition also includes the option to share details about anything you’re doing. Whether you’re watching a movie, reading a Reddit article or drinking a fine scotch, Facebook’s extensive information database will provide a corresponding icon, links to said movie or scotch and make a note of the activity on your timeline.
Testing for this feature began back in January but Facebook has decided to take the next step, introducing the feature first to US-based users and soon to a global audience.
There is a potential, as with any change in Facebook, that users will respond with overarching apathy, much like a lot did with the introduction of timeline. Many social media bloggers maintain that this is simply an aversion to change. They feel Facebook was perfect in its original form and has devolved with each subsequent refinement.
This truly begs the question: if users are turned off by Facebook alterations, will they embrace this new emotion feature or will it fall by the wayside like Farmville?
In my case, my profile has yet to be fitted with this new feature so I have been readily monitoring my newsfeed for any emotion or smiley usage. In the past week or so I have seen one friend use the feature in a status, and he used it only once. Perhaps most of my friends have also yet to receive this feature, they haven’t realized how to use it or are actively ignoring it.
However, in recent newsfeed examinations, I’ve noticed an excessive amount of emotionally charged statuses, specifically statuses chock-full of depressing song lyrics, explicit complaints about significant others and even blatant self-pity.
With all of these emotions smeared across my newsfeed do Facebook users even need more ways of expressing themselves?
Facebook news releases have stated the new emotion feature will feature over 200 preloaded feelings, not to mention seemingly limitless links to foods, movies and other activities.
These overly customizable updates, coupled with specific choices of advertised emotions, if used, may both increase our social connectivity and distance ourselves from one another.
Should emotions such as “Depressed” and “Worried” be explicitly stated such a high-traffic public forum? How would these overly honest updates be viewed by potential employers?
When Facebook has fully converted to this feature, at least for US-based users, we may see no change, or we may see widespread use. If this feature does hold noticeable consequences, we’ll just have to wait and see.
The Kansas View 