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| New gender neutral options on Facebook provide more options to its trans* community users, among others. |
If you were to ask someone who uses social media frequently, they would most likely tell you that sites like Facebook and Twitter seem to make changes every day. Formats to profiles, the layout of the site itself, even the logos of sites can change in a heartbeat; it comes from having a platform that needs to adapt and adjust so often to a changing environment. Recently, Facebook made one such change that works in the favor of a large section of its user base.
Until recently, when someone signs up for a Facebook profile they would have had two options for gender: male and female. These would be reflected both in their profile and in other, smaller ways across the site: write on Bob’s wall for HIS birthday, send Marie a gift for HER anniversary, things like that. After the most recent change, though, Facebook has now made gender neutrality an option for its transgender, genderfluid, and other nonbinary users (users who may not fall under the traditional “male” or “female” identity). Allowing the input of a “custom” gender makes it so users can now identify themselves to their friends as a transgender male or female, bigender, gender questioning, and a number of other options.
The change may not seem like all that large of one, but for those whom it affects it makes a great deal of difference. Now those who do not fall under a binary umbrella can accurately and authentically express their identity, and maybe help raise awareness of the trans* community as a whole.
If you'd like to read more: http://on.mash.to/1eKxPc6
This is a great move for Facebook. It shows that they are aware of their users' uniqueness, and it may even help Facebook attract more transgender people who have felt unaccounted for in the past. In a subtle way, I think it is also showing that Mark Zuckerberg, and therefore Facebook as a whole, are supporting the LGBTQ community. It's small steps like this, that may not seem like a huge deal to most of Facebook's users, (many won't notice at all), but can make a big difference for human rights.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Collin. I have several friends who fall under the trans category, and I have seen them posting on social media sites about how pleased they are to see these changes- something that most people would not have realized was a significant issue for more and more people in the world. I am pleased to see Facebook is making the effort to be inclusive of all people.
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