The “Like” Problem
Imagine witnessing a friend do something absolutely awe-inspiring.
They caught a fly ball that was unreachable.
They jumped over a river.
They kickflipped over a shed.
They disapproved E=MC2.
They shed light onto an idea you never understood before.
They gave you a new perspective that changed your views.
After any of the above, imagine just throwing them a “Thumbs up”.
No comment. No reaction. You simply stare at them like a hitchhiker.
Absurd. Ridiculous. You’d never think of doing that.
But we do it every single day on Facebook.
Someone posts a fantastic picture. Click. “Jordan Shirkman likes this”.
“I just finished a marathon!” Click.
“My wife and I just found out we’re having a baby!” Click.
“I was just elected President of the United States!” Click.
Liking is downright offensive. It says,
“What you did is cool, funny, entertaining or remarkable, but certainly not worthy of a comment or my congratulations, input or thoughts.”
Like Ruins
It dilutes the quality of what someone has done.
Likes get no response. They require no action. They add nothing to the conversation.
Liking is lazy. It’s worthless. It adds no value. If you like something, tell us why. Anyone can click a button. Few put in the effort to say why.
Retweets Are Noise
Anyone can retweet a post on Twitter. Few take the effort to add a sentence or two and pose a question at the bottom of a post.
The author may appreciate you linking to their post, but in my experience it has very little effect on overall page views. In fact, my most retweeted post ever had less clicks than posts that had no retweets at all.
Linking and liking don’t help ideas spreads: discussion does.
Spark something up.
Poke the fire.
Fan the flame.
Don’t just look stare at it; show someone where it is and tell them what you think about it.
The Fix
Stop liking. Start commenting.
If you are a chronic “liker”, it’s not too late to change things.
Take a moment, move your hand away from the mouse, and think through what someone has posted, created, photographed, or joined. Tell them why it’s great they did that or how much you appreciate it. Don’t just like it. Tell them why you love it.
The “Like Less, Love More” Challenge
Here’s my commitment: I won’t tweet, post or publish a single link to a blog without commenting first.
Yes, it will take more time. It might mean I’ll share less links. But the ones I do share will show up with my opinion, and they will add more value to the blogger and those in the comment community.
(As an aside, I think posting a comment before a retweet is okay, but I think taking the time to comment in addition is significantly more valuable.)
The advantages of the “Like Less, Love More” movement are monumental:
More interaction.
Real discussion.
Deeper relationships.
True value.
Better community.
And so on.
Will you join me in this? Will you stop just liking and retweeting and start engaging, asking questions and commenting on blogs?
P.S. Don’t you dare like this post or retweet it without commenting =)
Photo provided by LlGC ~ NLW