I am fascinated by the whole process of ‘Liking’ something on social media. So many people use it in different ways. For a long time, my ‘liking’ habits looked like this:
- Facebook: Family, a few friends, ignore everything else.
- Instagram: I love the photo for it’s artistic qualities, or ‘No like for you!’
- LinkedIn: Great article, a like will probably also get a share and/or a comment too.
- Twitter: I really like what you said and want to ‘keep’ it, or someone shared something of mine and I want to thank them.
But that has evolved… or rather devolved. Now a ‘Like’ is just an acknowledgement. I shifted to this unconsciously as I’ve watched others do the same. It wasn’t intentional or thought out at all. I miss being a lurker on Facebook, not caring if others knew I came to visit things they shared or not. I miss seeing my favorites on Instagram only being wonderful photographs. I miss going to my ‘Likes’ on Twitter and only seeing things worth reading again. I’m still not that much of a ‘liker’ but I definitely ‘like’ far more than I used to.
I’m not sure I’m going to change my habits back? It feels rude. Isn’t that interesting? I feel an obligation to be more generous, more ‘like’-able. I share an anniversary photo on Facebook, someone takes the time to send us well-wishes, I guess I should like their comment. I share something on Twitter and someone responds. I don’t have a response in return, so I should like their tweet as my response/acknowledgement. Someone shares a wonderful family moment on Instagram, I should be nice and like it, after all, they liked my family photo. And so suddenly my habits above became watered down to things I should do to be polite on social media.
We have moved to a world of likes, likes, and more likes… and I’m not sure I like it?
David, your discussion of the act of liking reminds me of a post from Kevin Hodgson. In a lengthy response, I clarified my personal use of ‘likes’ and how it might differ to others.
Also on: Read Write Collect