Facebook’s new ‘friends’ icon is bringing women out from the shadows.

The recent Facebook update showcases a small physical change that has spurred an enormous social difference.

Before and After. Image: Medium Corporation

The symbolism engrained within the Facebook icon is seemingly innocuous, however it didn’t go unnoticed to one of Facebook’s designers, Caitlin Winner.

After starting up with the company, within the first week she noticed something that didn’t sit well with her. She was scrolling through the photoshop folders and found the two male and female icons used for the ‘Friend Request’ button.

The man was symmetrical, despite his spiked hair and Winner noticed that the picture of the female ‘friend’ icon showed a woman who literally had a chip on her shoulder. Winner realised that this chip was allocated for the placement of the male icon, which was positioned in front of the woman, shadowing her in the background.

Image: Medium Corporation.

“I assumed no ill intentions, just a lack of consideration but as a lady with two robust shoulders, the chip offended me,” said Winner.

These male-centric icons may not appear to be an issue, but the subtle symbolism that lies behind them represents years of female oppression and male dominance, which is why Winner believed it was time to create an alternative in order to promote equality by leveling cultural and gender differences.

The update has not only brought the female silhouette forward, but also changed the ‘group’ icon which now features a unisex third icon, instead of two men and one woman, who is again in the background.

Related Post: Building a more diverse Facebook.

Winner made these changes tentatively. She was unsure as to how they would be received and whether or not they would be taken on board.

“Timidly, I saved out a new version of the glyph file, not sure if I was breaking any rules...the new icons began to appear in new products across the company and our many platforms,” said Winner in her blog post.

The Facebook Feminist, Caitlin Winner. Image: Express.co.uk

While Facebook is attempting to include female users in regards to their social media platforms, the diversity within the Facebook company is lagging behind other tech firms, with Fortune revealing only 32% of its employees identifying as female. This is placed well below other companies, such as Pandora, who approximate to hire roughly 50 percent male and 50 percent female employees and online super giant eBay, that boasts a generous 42% of female employees.

“I assumed no ill intentions, just a lack of consideration but as a lady with two robust shoulders, the chip offended me."

Facebook has checked its white privilege in the past and made some physical changes to its appearance. In 2014, designer Julyanne Liang and engineer Brian Jew created alternative globe icons that didn’t just focus on the American half of the world.

Again, this doesn’t translate within the inner workings of the company as 55% of Facebook employees are white, with 34% being Asian. This leaves room for 9% worth of diversity between other ethnic groups.

While these changes might seem like small, insignificant details, they are in fact the first steps needed to create a platform of diversity within the social media sphere. Winner believes that while Facebook still has a way to go, especially within their own company, it’s important to acknowledge these first steps as important ones and in order to move the company forward and bring minority groups to the forefront, we need to start small and get bigger.

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