Social media is here to stay, and it gives us a look into the lives of friends, family, and strangers worldwide. And, with most social media platforms, you also get the like button—or some version thereof—to show your support of what you’re seeing.
But is the like button actually a good thing? Let’s have a look at some pros and cons and whether they’re actually essential to the social media experience…
The Case for the Like Button
Almost every social media platform has some way to signal your approval for posts. Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook have likes, Reddit has upvotes, and Snapchat has favorites.
But what value do they add to these sites? Here are a few positives of the feature…
The Like Button Improves Suggestions
Likes are a necessity when you consider the fundamentals of most platforms.
Each platform that recommends and filters content, like Instagram and YouTube, relies on an algorithm. The algorithm needs your likes, so it knows what to show you.
The more you like, the better suggestions you get. That’s one of the best things about TikTok, for example. It curates your For You Page (FYP) based on what you enjoy viewing. If you love DIY and dog content, eventually, your feed and recommendations will reflect that.
When you initially open TikTok, you’ll be greeted by generic content. But as you view and like, you curate your FYP on TikTok.
YouTube works the same way, as do most other social media platforms.
Without having the ability to like posts you enjoy, how will the algorithms work? How will they personalize your experience?
Likes Are a Useful Sign of Engagement
When you post on a platform like Instagram, for example, engagement matters.
The more people see and like your post, the more Instagram will push it on its other users. That, in turn, will lead to more eyes and likes, and on it goes.
Without having likes to boost the engagement on your post, fewer people will see it since it won’t get promoted by the platform.
Positive Feedback for Good Content
Likes are good for your confidence. Whatever you share of yourself online, you feel good about it when it gets likes. Whether you show an outfit you styled, a DIY project you completed, a video criticizing a movie, it doesn’t matter.
Regardless of the content you post, likes can give you a confidence boost. Seeing people resonate with what you posted is a pretty great feeling.
Negative Effects of the Like Button
As with many social media features, the like button also comes with drawbacks.
Here are some of the negative effects like buttons have on platforms and users…
The Pressure to Chase Likes on Social Media
Whenever you post online, you share a little bit of yourself—you give the world a part of you.
To see it’s not as well-received as you’d hoped may lead to low self-esteem. It can cause doubts about your self-worth and generally get you down.
You can feel anxiety when posting—will people like it? Is it even worth sharing? What if no one likes it?
Removing the like button altogether can remove the stress associated with posting. There will be no pressure to curate your posts. It won’t matter if people like them because there’s no way to figure out whether they do or not.
Bot Likes Won’t Rig Recommendations
Removing likes will remove the power that likes have. That, in turn, will negate the motivation to falsely inflate like numbers by buying bot engagement.
It’s a persistent rumor that many social media creators have dabbled in buying likes.
As already established, likes help push your content. So, if you have the money to buy them, you essentially get a leg up over everyone else.
It stops mattering whether what you’re posting is good. Since you’re paying for bots or farms to like your posts, they will reach a wider audience regardless of quality. You’d have bought the quantity to ensure that.
Removing the like button removes that whole side of social media—no more bad actors buying their engagement.
No Like Button Means Less Comparison
Sometimes friends share the same thing, but one gets more likes than the other. That leads to negative comparisons.
Having no more likes visible under a post is a great equalizer.
You won’t feel the need to check out how many likes one of your posts got compared to another since it won’t matter. That, in turn, may lead to you posting more since the pressure to polish your feed in order to garner the most likes will no longer be there.
You can share whatever you like and avoid comparing yourself to other people online or even yourself and your previous posts.
The Future of Likes Will Likely Be Up to You
As with most things, there are merits and drawbacks to having a like button. It’s helpful, but it can also be harmful.
But what if it doesn’t have to be that way?
Today, many platforms are playing with the idea of giving their users the option to hide likes. For example, both Facebook and Instagram already allow users who wish to avoid seeing like counts to conceal them. But, of course, those who care for them are free to keep them visible.
That seems the best of both worlds—if you want to see likes, you do, and if you don’t, you don’t.
Choice is always a good thing. It’s the best thing companies can do: leave users to decide for themselves whether they’d like to hold onto the like button or not. That way, each individual gets the chance to weigh out the options and pick the one that works for them.
User Choice Seems To Be the Best Option
Since like buttons have functional uses for platforms, but also numerous drawbacks, user choice seems to be the best compromise.
For some users they’re essential. For others, they negatively impact their experience. Letting users opt into whether they see like counts seems to be a good compromise.
