Faced with an existential crisis of sorts, Mark Zuckerberg-led Facebook is trying all it can to bring in more transparency and security to its site. In yet another move in this direction, the social media platform has introduced a feature where one can ‘upvote’ and ‘downvote’ any post.
The new feature is in test mode right now and has been on trial in the US to start with. Facebook may extend it to other geographies soon. Some users in countries like Australia and New Zealand appear to have seen the buttons on their pages and have tweeted about it, mostly positive so far.
Facebook claims this new ‘upvote’ and ‘downvote’ buttons have a different function to the already existing ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ buttons. This is a tool that is being offered to the users to rate public posts which may be in bad taste or are not appropriate to the society at large and if the user feels the originator of the post had ill-intentions in posting the piece.
It might however be a while before a large body of users across the spectrum, fully understand and appreciate the purpose of Facebook introducing the tool. In any case, corporate entities will always find it very difficult to rebuild their image and reputation once it is sullied, the way Facebook’s has been following the Cambridge Analytica disclosures.
Individuals who had placed a certain trust with Facebook concerning their personal data, have been deeply hurt by the revelations and though some amount of damage control might have been done through the CEO appearing before the Senate panel and answering questions and his transparent interaction with the media, it may still take longer for the loyal Facebook users to regain their trust and confidence in the company and its app.