Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Ali.
1. Facebook unveils ‘Dislike’ button
Facebook has announced that it will be rolling out a dislike button because, as founder Mark Zuckerberg said, ‘not every moment is a good moment’. I admit that on the odd occasion a thumbs down button might have been more appropriate to show empathy than a like, however the potential for misuse or downright abuse is massive.
Does a dislike mean that
- you are clicking to show support for a negative experience or situation
- you are clicking to show solidarity with the person or their opinion
- you don’t like that specific status update
- you don’t like something they’ve shared i.e. an image of a spider
- you are simply trying to provoke a reaction
However in reality it’s no different to the like button: I use a thumbs up to show I’ve read a post and noted it, that I agree with the sentiment, that I genuinely liked something, that I appreciated someone’s reply etc etc.
Facebook has a minimum user age of 13 and I believe the negativity that, innocently or not, is conveyed in a dislike could be dangerous, especially around such youngsters. For the dislike button to be used in the way in which Zuckerberg intends, requires an emotional intelligence beyond most teenagers and many adults.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the dislike button is quickly retracted in order to maintain a positive experience for the majority of Facebook users. Either that, or it will be a catalyst for users having a good old clearout of their so-called friends.
2. What if Disney characters had Instagram accounts?
Well now we know. Brilliant Italian illustrator Simona Bonafin has updated popular Disney characters in a very modern way that epitomises our self obsession on social media.
3. Google gets tough on robocallers
Google is cracking down on bogus SEO firms claiming an official affiliation with the search giant in order to secure contracts from small businesses. The current firm in question is based in the US but there will undoubtedly be a number of UK firms that employ similar tactics. Google has also created a safety centre where concerned firms can report scams.
If something sounds too good to be true it usually is in all areas of life and that’s also the case in search. Whether it’s a robocall or not, being promised position one, page one of Google or ‘page one domination’ as I read recently, is almost a sure sign the agency won’t deliver.
4. Does click through rate impact rankings?
As Google’s algorithm is kept closely under wraps we’ll never know to what extent, if any, click through rates have or previously had an impact or rankings. It was previously thought to have been a virtuous circle that the more organic click throughs from search engine results pages (SERPS), the better your site or page would rank, which would in turn send more traffic your way.
One of Search Engine Land’s contributors argues that isn’t necessarily the case (at the moment). However, I find it hard to believe that in trying to determine whether it is delivering accurate results, Google would not revert to recent click through rate history in one way or another.
As the author suggests, it’s pretty tricky to isolate individual factors but it’s an interesting read anyway.
5. What does the fox say?
Who cares, but dogs can now definitely tweet as can many other animals it appears. It’s widely acknowledged than cats are taking over the internet but here are the twitter accounts of some other species who are trying to level the playing field:
@bronxzooscobra Bio: Previously went missing from the Bronx Zoo and now tweets about other zoo escapees and snake matters
Holding very still in the snake exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. This is gonna be hilarious!
— Bronx Zoo’s Cobra (@BronxZoosCobra) March 28, 2011
@Maggiemay_hem Bio: Maggie hasn’t got a bio but the 2012 Olympic gold medal on her profile pic is a clue. (When you realise that this is Andy Murray’s border terrier you can see where this one is going!)
Potentially blasphemous yet ingenious use of new silverware, I think pic.twitter.com/yZJfcwpZ — Maggie May (@maggiemay_hem) July 11, 2012
@common_squirrel: Bio: Essentially a fund raising squirrel
run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run run
— common squirrel (@common_squirrel) September 14, 2015
Ruby, the Browser Media office dog, is currently considering what the pawpose of her social media activity should be.
