Like - The Currency of Facebook

Facebook has changed since its beginnings, even through the recent years that I've been using it.  First there was the exclusivity of Harvard membership, then college students only.  Then there was the metric of how many friends you had.  When companies joined in, there was the constant message "Like us on Facebook".

Now it seems that Like is somewhat of an obligation when a friend posts something interesting and a personal measurement if their post was worthwhile.  Face it, if you have 200 friends, and you post something but nobody "likes" it, as Seinfeld would say, that's a pretty big matzo ball out there.  You and all your friends see the no-likes status.  There's been talk of a "dislike" button on FB but that's probably too confrontational among friends.  As your mother said, if you don't have something nice to say, keep your mouth shut.

So this pressure to "like" and "be liked" seems to drive a lot of the posting traffic.  Is your photo stunning or just no big deal?  Is your comment about the Red Sox insightful or just a banal "Go Sox", big deal.  And what if you post a picture of your kid that you think is adorable; you feel insulted if no one likes it while your FB friends might think, I've got to like it, it's her kid.  It flows both ways, if I post a picture of my kids or check-in at a fun place, I appreciate the "like" or comment response.

As humans, we need feedback.  FB is a social site, that's why you're there.  If all you hear are crickets, you start to wonder if anyone is paying attention to you or if they just consider you boring.  Eventually you think, why should I bother.  Maybe this is good because it keeps the pressure on for interesting posts, not just regurgitating "I love Starbucks" or "TGIF".  If you post a photo and get 10 likes and 15 comments, I'd say you posted something of high interest or appeal.

Even on Twitter, there was a race to get a large number of followers.  Now marking a tweat as a "favorite" is like a "like".  And many teens are migrating to Twitter because the social circle does not require permission and the feel of Twitter is more instant.  BTW, don't block your Twitter feed, use FB if you want to protect your comments.

But "likes" have become the currency of Facebook.  You hand them out among your friends and sometimes you even owe some likes.  You gotta give to get.  If none of this interests you, write a blog, which is more of a journal.  You may get some comments, but blog writers tend to write more for themselves, even if no one is listening or commenting.  Like here, I write for me.  I hope you enjoy it and I appreciate the comments, but even without them, I'll keep on writing.