Facebook ‘Dislike’ Button

We are all familiar with the “like” button on Facebook. The like button was introduced in 2009 allowing users to show appreciation for another user’s status, photo, video or other content. I pass out likes on Facebook like they are candy. Oh what a cute dog! Like. What a great accomplishment! Like. You don’t feel good? Like. Even if I don’t actually like a status, I still like it just because it’s common practice for me.

CNN reports that one year ago, the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg said, "Some people have asked for a dislike button because they want to be able to say 'that thing isn't good,' and we're not going to do that ... I don't think that's socially very valuable, or great for the community." Now, Zuckerberg admitted that "not every moment is good" and there is possibly a need for a dislike button.

Facebook officially introduced their plans of testing a “dislike” button. So far, there has been very mixed reviews. I have been waiting for a dislike button for so long but I can also see where problems could potentially arise. There have been so many times when I scroll past a post and I think to myself, “why would you ever post that on social media? What is wrong with you?”, and there lies the problem. The dislike button can easily be used as a way to promote negative thinking, bullying and inappropriate behavior.

Zuckerberg wants the dislike button to be able to display emotions of empathy instead of dislike, eliminating the potential for negativity, bullying and inappropriate behavior. Facebook's newest feature could either be highly successful or a disaster waiting to happen. Only time will tell.

Social Media Policy in the Business World

Chapter 13 of Real-Time Marketing and PR focuses on the importance of having a real-time communications policy. Social media can be a scary concept for some companies. Social media has the potential to be dangerous to a company’s reputation due to the lack of control. You never know what an employee will post. Inappropriate social media use can become a crisis before you know it. If your company develops a communications policy, you can potentially prevent these problems. Developing and implementing a real-time communications policy is a necessity in today’s digital world.  

David Meerman Scott estimates that 25 percent of large organizations block employee access to online social media. In my opinion, I don’t think it’s right for an organization or company to block employee’s access to social media. Utilizing social media is an important factor in communicating in real-time. Without real-time communication, organizations limit themselves in human resources and customer satisfaction. 

To avoid company blocks in social media, a company should develop a real-time communications policy. Meerman Scott lists eight steps to keep in mind when creating a social media policy. The guidelines are as follows: get agreement from your stakeholders, select a team to draft the guidelines, study other corporate guidelines that are already in place, adapt other company’s guidelines that suit your purpose, share your draft with stakeholders and get their approval, incorporate feedback, publish guidelines- internally and externally and finally, communicate the guidelines to everyone in your organization.

 

A company that has a well-rounded, real-time communications policy is Limited Brands (LBrands). LBrands is home to many well-known brands such as Victoria’s Secret, Bath and Body Works, Pink, La Senza and Henri Bendel. LBrands encourages employees to use social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, Yammer, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

LBrands encourages employees to use common sense, keep confidential information confidential, be respectful and ethical, interact responsibly, redirect media inquiries and to be safe. Developing a communications policy protects not only the company, but the employee as well. An important point LBrands makes in their policy is sometimes employee comments can be interpreted as responding on behalf of the company. Try to avoid this at all costs by identifying yourself as an associate of the company. An easy tip is to use “I” instead of “we”.

As a future public relations professional, I would like the company I work for to have a real-time communications policy in place. I want to be able to communicate in real-time with my target audience to ensure satisfaction.

An ESFJ Personality

An infographic created by Truity Psychometrics attempts to assess your personality and match characteristics of your personality with potential career opportunities. I decided to take this personality test for fun and my results surprised me. I found this study interesting, I hope you do, too! The four dimensions of personality analyzed are: energy style, thinking style, values style and life style. After answering questions about each dimension, the infographic explains 16 four-letter personality types.

The first dimension the infographic assesses is the energy style. The energy style asks if you are an introvert or extravert. According to Truity, an introvert is a person who likes working independently or in small groups, in calm, quiet spaces while an extrovert likes working with other people, on teams and in busy spaces. In my opinion, I believe I am an extravert. I love working and communicating with others to achieve a common goal.

The thinking style is divided into two categories: sensors and intuitives. Truity defines a sensor thinking style as a person who enjoys working with concrete things like people, data and machines. An intuitive thinking style enjoys working with abstract things like theories, ideas and possibilities. In this case, I am more of a sensor because I like to work with things that are tangible. I like being able to see my work and follow up on the results.

In the values style, you can choose from thinking or feeling. Do you enjoy work that involves thinking and intelligence or do you prefer work that reflects your values? Personally, I am a feeler. I would rather be involved in something that could potentially have an impact on someone else's life. When I make decisions, I think about what I’m doing and how it will effect others. I take into consideration other peoples feelings and opinions before making a decision.

Judgers like organization and a structured, orderly workplace. The opposite of a judger is a perceiver, or a person who likes flexibility and freedom and doesn’t mind a little chaos. I was torn in the life style dimension of my personality. I am an organized person who likes to have a flexible plan but I do some of my best work while stressed and under pressure. Although, I posses some characteristic of a perceiver I think I am more of a judger because I like to be organized, in control and have a structured plan of attack.

Combining my results from each personality dimension, I am an ESFJ. An ESFJ personality placed me into the category of a caretaker. Caretakers love their work when they can do practical things to help other people. Truity provides examples of possible career choices related to your personality. For an ESFJ caretaker, possible careers for me are an Elementary Teacher, Child Care Director, Nutritionist, Cosmetologist or a Registered Nurse.

I find my results ironic because before switching my major to public relations and communication studies, I was a nursing major. Two of my other career possibilities involve working with children which I find surprising because I generally don’t have patience to deal with children. I’m not looking forward to having kids of my own one day. They are such a pain! Although I do disagree with some of my potential career choices, I do agree with Truity when they say I enjoy working if it can help someone else. Therefore, I think I would enjoy working in the non-profit public relations industry.

Check out the infographic and take the quiz for yourself. It is simple and easy to follow. Plus, it only takes a few minutes. Comment and let me know what you get and if you agree or disagree with your results.