The other day I went to Facebook and did something simple: I scrolled through and watched a video someone had posted. What to do after that seemed complicated all of a sudden. I had a lot to say but found myself hesitating. Would this person find it strange that I wanted to leave a comment that was more than one word long? Would it mark me as “that girl” — the opinionated one — to everyone who saw it?
That’s what I’ve come to expect from Facebook: more instant gratification and entertainment, and less real sharing. Ultimately I left a response to that video. I had something to say and I said it the way I would face-to-face. On social media, its a different thing altogether. You see a status or post in your news feed and click “like” as an affirmation. You’ve read it, you laughed, you agreed.
But when I see 15 notifications on a post, and they’re all “likes”, I don’t know that. Do you like that I’m bored at work? Are you bored too? Did you enjoy my post or are you just clicking on everything? It means nothing.
Unlike being in front of people, or among your friends, you can’t see a person’s response behind a screen. Reading your mind is not among my talents. So what I’m really trying to say is this: Ban the like button!
What do you “like” about me?
All right, I won’t send any crazy petitions to Facebook’s HQ. It’s not the “like” that needs to go, but rather our reliance on it instead of saying what we think. I know that I’m starting to sound like a out-of-touch old lady. I’m not, I swear. I grew up with the Internet for the most part. I’m hip…
What bothers me isn’t that we’re all sucked into our Facebook accounts, it’s that “liking” something has become so easy. It’s great for Facebook’s shareholders, who make money off of knowing our preferences, but it’s making us lazy. Clicking that one word a few times is self-gratifying. That’s right. Don’t you feel like you’re doing something useful?
We all want to be liked, and in the case of Facebook, we get our wish. You’ve interacted with a person without the risk of sharing your opinion in “public”.
I’ll be honest, I’m mostly annoyed when I share something awesome and I get “likes.” Okay, I appreciate that you didn’t A) Ignore me or B) Tell me that I posted something boring or ridiculous. You came, you saw and you… didn’t respond. Really, I know you’re clicking “like”, so why not tell me what you enjoyed. Why do you like me, I mean… my post?
I can understand the appeal of “liking” a new photo and a few other things, but EVERYTHING? I swear I’m not fishing for comments. This isn’t a threat. I’m not even scary…
This is just a PSA: Stop “liking” and start a conversation! I want to know what you think!
1.HAHA. You said you’re hip! Not that you aren’t “hip”…you totally are 😉
2.”This isn’t a threat”…well it sure sounds like one.
3.AND I LIKE YOU 😉
She likes me. She really likes me! Thanks for the comment Vicky. 🙂
I think you have a point, here. I don’t use facebook all that much–kind of like you said, I think “like” makes more sense on a photo…but not so much on a status or comment.
Yep, exactly. I should stop using Facebook too, but then what would I write about?
Good for you so many people just click that darn like button and I sometimes wonder if they have actually read the message they ‘liked’ sometimes it is a very sad message, how the heck can you ‘like’ that for goodness sake. I try not to use it unless I leave a message also. I wonder how many likes people get through the year. I mean would we go up to a complete stranger and say I like you. I think not. You need to get to know that person first surely, then make a decision. I don’t really know you but am thinking I like what you are doing, keep up the good work.
Thanks Janet. Glad to hear someone agrees with me. Now to convince all of my Facebook friends…
I know this article is almost older than my nephew, but my hatred of the like button is the cheerleader it leads to.
Someone posts something disagreeing with you, and 5 people click the post’s like button – it’s the horrid approval of something against you I really abhor.
Cheerleader online is a total scourge.