The Creator of the Like Button Hates the Like Button?!

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I was talking with my dad about social media (because he was complaining that I was on my phone too much, as all parents do), and he mentioned the effects of the like button. How when you get likes, some endorphins are released, but also how it can be detrimental because you could compare yourself to someone who has more likes than you (I go more in-depth in a previous blog post). My father was extremely proud of himself when he stated that the creator of the Facebook like button now regrets it, and has supposedly removed the app from his phone because of addiction. I decided to complete some more research on the guy.

Here is a link to the article I reference.

According to the article, Justin Rosenstein, the creator of the Facebook like button in 2007, has decided to remove harmful apps from his phone, including Facebook, Reddit, and Snapchat. He is now fearful of the phycological effects of the social media apps. Rosenstein's assistant has made it so he can not access certain apps on his new iPhone, under Rosenstein's request. "Mr. Rosenstein describes Facebook “Likes” as “bright dings of pseudo-pleasure”, one of many features that contribute to what Silicon Valley critics describe as the new “attention economy”." This is worrisome. They have actually coined the term "attention economy" which is just a very odd but fitting term. I personally do not like the term because it makes an emotional thing a very calculated thing, but in reality, that is just that. I guess I do not like the term because it exposes it as what it is in very vulgar terms.
But this whole article in itself is worrisome. The inventor of the like button is now like, oh whoops nope I am o u t. What does this mean for the rest of us?

Comments

  1. .January 6, 2018 at 2:43 PM

    I find this really interesting. Personally, I think as a society we use the like button to measure our happiness which can be very damaging to self confidence because we then feel like we never have enough approval and likes from others. It shows that even the inventor of something which seems harmless is regretful of his decisions which is very worrisome for the rest of social media users.

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