If you use Facebook, and I do (and I am not the least bit ashamed to admit it because sometimes it’s my only social life), then you know about the “like” button. The “like”button is for those who are too lazy busy to leave an actual comment about someone’s post, but they want to acknowledge that they read it. It’s an abbreviated courtesy that says, “I find this partially worthy of my time.” And they may have even liked the content of the comment. But it gets confusing after that.
For example, if the content of the post was something like “Steelhead officially proclaimed to be extinct!”, a person might click “like” to acknowledge that they read the post, even though they clearly did not like the content of the message. Or sometimes a person will simply click “like” so that they’re notified of follow-up comments (voyeurism). But what is really needed in this instance is a “dislike” button, for obvious reasons. Let’s say you saw an outlandish post by someone, and you disagreed with it, you would not very well click the “like” button, but instead reach for the “dislike” button. That is, unless you cared to take the time to post a comment in reply.
There has been, for as long as I can recall, a public Facebook outcry for a “dislike” button. It’s not uncommon to see any number of people post a reply to a comment, “Where is the dislike button?!” or simply they type “dislike”. Well, recently I ventured out into the world wide web in search of information on the matter, and I came up with several pieces of information–one in particular that caught my eye: Firefox dislike button add-on.
For those who live in a closet, Firefox is a popular web browser. I use it instead of Safari (Apple’s proprietary browser that ships as part of the Apple OS). I can’t remember why, but some years ago I became dissatisfied with certain page displays on Safari, so I switched to Firefox. I’ve never had a regret. But I must say, I dislike Firefox’s “dislike” button add-on.
After installing the “dislike” button add-on recently, I thought I was on my way to good times and greater accuracy when acknowledging a comment without committing to the time and courtesy required to leave a comment. I was going to be a super cool “dislike” guy. Well, not quite so fast. First off, the “dislike” function is meaningless unless all your Facebook friends also use Firefox and have the “dislike” add-on engaged. Otherwise I am disliking only to myself, which seems oddly self-abusive. But I figured I could recruit at least a few people with whom I regularly banter back and forth, and we could have our own little dislike-fest.
I immediately began to regret my rash decision. Why? Well, first off at the top of every page there appeared one version or another of a really annoying banner ad. With sound. The damn thing chimed and talked to me every time I changed pages.
And who is Johanna and why does she want to be friends with me? She’s seemingly young enough to be my daughter. And I’m married. But I digress.
On the right sidebar, the stuff that’s usually there (stuff that I don’t really care about but isn’t bothersome) is replaced by another giant banner ad. These are “dislike ads”. Apparently baggage that comes with installing the “dislike” add-on. Trust me– they are aptly named, and you will dislike them.
Annoying, isn’t it? Makes you want to “dislike” it. Well, I disliked it to the point where I had to find out how to get rid of the damn things. Disabling the “dislike” button add-on is what must be done in order to regain serenity. Thankfully it’s an easy task, and here is how you do it:
1. Go to the main Firefox menu at the top of your screen. I will look like this if you’re on an Apple:
(if you’re on a Windows PC I have no idea what it might look like and you’re probably stuck using Internet Exploder anyway)
2. Click on the “Tools” tab. You’ll get a drop down menu. Scroll down to “Add-ons”:
3. Select “Add-ons”. This little gem of a page will appear. Other add-ons you’ve added will also appear, but the one you are after is the “FDislike 1.3.2” (or some other numerical version). To the right you will find a happy, magical “Disable” button. You want to click that. Hell, you may as well click “Remove”.
Good riddance, Firefox. I don’t know if it’s you or Facebook, or probably the two of you in cahoots with each other on this whole Dislike Ad crap, but it’s weaksauce. I dislike it. There is still a need for a “dislike” button, but until it is a feature built into Facebook’s interface, I’m left with actually taking the time to leave a comment when I dislike something.
And I’m a very busy man. Clearly.
