Value of A 'Like'

Originally published July 1, 2015

It’s been a while. 9 or so months right? Ah well, no one really pays attention to this anyway so let’s just get into it.

Likes.

When I say ‘likes’, the first thing that pops into your head is probably Facebook or Instagram, right? But why is it that so many people care so much about something as simple as a ‘like’? Why does it matter if some random kid you met in Grade 9 ‘likes’ your photo, even though you haven’t seen him/her in years and have no relationship with them?

After thinking about this topic for a while and having conversations with numerous people, I’ve finally come to a conclusion.

First of all, I think there are a few reasons why people care about ‘likes’ so much. Scientifically speaking, I found out that in some people, when they see someone ‘like’ their picture, it activates something in their brain called the mesolimbic pathway. This dopaminergic pathway is central to the basis of addiction and therefore is also activated when you’re exposed to things like drugs and alcohol. So basically, getting a ‘like’ from someone could potentially activate the same system as if you were to do cocaine or heroin. Pretty crazy shit right?

(Source: http://www.medicaldaily.com/facebook-addiction-activates-same-brain-areas-drugs-how-social-media-sites-hook-you-320252 There were obvious limitations with the study, but the results are still significant)

But I think it’s more than just that. I think that most people who share pictures or statuses with the intention of getting ‘likes’ are really doing it to get validation from other people. They’re not completely confident in who they are as a person that they need to share something with other people in order to make them feel better about themselves.

Now look, I’m not saying I’m totally immune to this either. I think everyone who posts pictures or statuses to Facebook or Instagram wants people to see what they’re doing and a ‘like’ sort of acknowledges this. I mean how many times have you checked to see if your crush liked your latest Instagram pic, or how many people saw your last snapchat? Quite often, right? I’ll be the first one to say that I’ve done this before (and I know everyone does). However, I do think there’s a spectrum.

When I post something, usually it’s just to share with close family and friends where I am and what I’ve been up to. Sort of a snapshot of what’s going on in my life. If I get a bunch of ‘likes’ or ‘views’, cool; if not, that’s cool as well.

However, I know there’s people who will only post pictures at a specific time of day (because most of their friends/followers will be on social media at that time) and will take a week to come up with a caption, just to make sure they can get those extra few ‘likes’. They’ll also take down a picture if it doesn’t have the right number of ‘likes’ or re-post a picture just to get more ‘likes’. Also, I don’t know why but I have a problem with people telling other people to ‘like’ their picture. I mean what’s an extra ‘like’ going to do? It’s not ‘like’ it’s going to change your life (Punny right? Yea, I know; that was pretty bad).

It’s almost as if ‘likes’ have become a way to judge our social standing. We consider people who get more ‘likes’ as more popular than those who don’t have as many. But really though, why does it matter? Why do we care if we’re popular on social media or not? Sure, everyone wants people to like them, but I mean would you rather have hundreds of random people ‘like’ your picture on Facebook or Instagram or a few close friends and family to actually share your life with?

So next time you post a cool picture on Instagram or funny status on Facebook, ask yourself: do ‘likes’ really matter?

‍