Facebook started quietly rolling out a new feature last month and since then it seems to have attracted a fair bit of attention on social media, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The new feature is a simple one, as it is just a ‘Hello’ button. Likewise, its purpose is pretty much just as simple, as all it does is allow someone to say Hello to someone else. Essentially, it allows someone to grab the attention of someone else. That’s it, something that is not that different from Facebook’s ‘Poke’ feature, or even the ‘Wave’ feature which became widely available towards the end of 2016.
However, the reason it is starting to built up a level of notoriety is not due to what it does, but more so, where it is located. The Hello button appears at the top of a user’s profile page and right along with the ‘Add Friend’ button and the ‘Message’ button. In fact, it appears right in between those two buttons, in the space where people would normally expect to find the add friend option. Or just as importantly, the unfriend option. Which is where the problem arises. As multiple people on social media are noting how they have accidentally said “hello” to someone they were trying to add as a friend, and by the same token, to those they were trying to unfriend. Which needless to say, can be problematic in both instances. For the add friend users, they are essentially saying Hello to someone they might not know, while for those looking to unfriend someone on the quiet – pressing a button that is solely designed to attract their attention is probably not the best way to go about it.
What is clear is that although the feature is not live for everyone yet, there are already quite a few social media reports on the placement of the button causing an issue. Enough to suggest that if and when the Hello button rolls out more widely, the issue will also likely become more widespread. If you have yet to see (or accidentally click) the Hello button, then you are probably not part of the first wave of users. For reference, you can see the placement of the new button in the image below.