Oh, that person wrote about their trip to Bali - "Like"
Hey there's the photos from my cousins birthday - "Like"
Inspiring quote from a well known author - "Like"
Someone tagged me in a nostalgic photo from high school graduation - "Like"
There is this thing we do on Facebook... We feel some vague interest toward what we see so we click the "like" button, sometimes even before reading the whole thing, then quickly move on to the next thing we "like".
Now, I'm not against Facebook... in fact, I use it regularly to catch up with people and share parts of my life there. But as someone who uses Facebook and who watches what's happening in society, I have two issues with this "like" business.
Firstly, people (especially amongst younger people) are beginning to confuse being liked on Facebook with being liked in real life. Their self worth is depending on how many likes they get on what they post. I frequently see posts such as "50 likes and I'll post a video of me singing" which is really saying, show me that I have worth and then I'll have the confidence to put something up which makes me vulnerable. Or "Like for a Like" which is the routine of me "liking" your post and then you'll write to me telling me something you like about me. This one really makes me sad because it assumes we need someone to tell us they like us before we have the confidence or the motivation to compliment them, but also because the people "liking" these posts are not feeling valued or worthy enough so they are searching for someone to tell them what is good about them. That breaks my heart. I often hear the youth I work with talking about how many "likes" their profile picture or video got and comparing numbers...
Secondly, "liking" something doesn't even mean anything to me when I see that.
I often post photos that I've taken, because I am good at photography and want to share the photos I have the privilege of capturing, mostly with the people who are in the photos in mind, or sometimes to share the beauty of the country we live in. And usually when I post photos, people will "like" them, sometimes people that I would never even usually talk to in real life. And even though I feel glad that you looked at it and appreciated something about that photo... I always wonder, why did you like that? Are you friends with someone in that photo? Do you also like the ocean? Do you appreciate the same simple beauty I do about that daisy? Did you like that photo because you've also travelled there and appreciate how long the hike is?
I want people to share with me why they felt some appreciation or connection with the photo I just posted. But when the same person goes through and "likes" 20 of my photos in the space of 2 minute
s, that does nothing except block my newsfeed and tell me you're flicking through them really really fast.
So I've set myself a challenge and want to challenge you to also try this...
I've decided that I won't like anything else on Facebook unless I'm prepared to also comment about why I like this. Let's make Facebook a tool to honour and uplift and appreciate people.
Give them your love, not just your like.
