My dislike for “Like”

Finest Blog Entry for March 2013

[JUSTIFY]First, let me get over with the mundane bits. For all my eccentricities, I hold a deep belief in a higher power. I also profess more than a passing interest in the supernatural and the quirky, and hold that the sharing of information and laughs are among the greatest pluses of social media. I love my family and can’t live without my friends, and I have a closet fascination for syrupy lyrics. I am also a weepy romantic, I get goose bumps every time the national anthem is played, and I can unabashedly coo at dogs.

Yet it roils me when I am called upon to prove (or disprove) these credentials on FB. Why must I, for instance, submit to the threat of a calamity and like the pictures of God, Goddesses or (worse still) Godmen? Why must I share every dubious post on a promised miracle of unknown origins? Why must the future of my earthly life depend on “not breaking the chain” of goodwill/prayer/blessings or whatever crap it is that my FB friends are favouring? Why must I measure any social good that I can do by adding to the number of likes a page claiming to uphold a worthy cause of the day can garner? Why must I post a “I love you Mom/Dad/Brother/Dog/Cat” link on my wall to prove that I really do? Why must I passively hit “Like” every time a post on the courage of our army and the many failures of our government shows up? Why must I this? Why must I that?

I have a reasonable distaste for dictation but will happily yield to logic. I am also convinced that most of black or white solutions and suppositions thrown up on social media are just that—one tone. The infantile world of Facebook injunctions created by friends, and by friends of friends leaves no room for reason. At one time, I would respond to posts of the slightly logical variety (such as that which created panic about the company’s misuse of personal data or another one on the safety measure of reverse ATM pin technology), but when these were re discovered and re posted by freshly alarmed friends, I gave up.

This mix of misinformation and mindlessness—less droll more drivel, is the social media version of fear mongering. It is one step removed from the “idol drinking milk” kind of mass hysteria of the past. Only a more armchair and keyboard version of it. While it might not make governments squirm, it is irritation inducing. And the many cobwebbed permutations of friends, followers, acquaintances, subscribers and friends of friends make it impossible to get rid of it in a single click.

I suspect if there was a functional “Dislike” button on FB, it would get more hits than the facile “Like”. Ironically however, even applications which promise (but never deliver) a “Dislike” button are headed by a “like” button.

I hear of a recent lawsuit brought against FB for nixing the “Like” button from a Dutch programmer who had patented and promoted it on a fledging social network of his own, but who died some time before FB came into existence. If that were to be proved and FB forced to yank the button from its page, I would definitely hit ‘Like’.





[/JUSTIFY]

 

Thanks for dropping by.
I fail to understand the logic of trying fear or shame (share within 5 minutes or something bad will happen/don't ignore, save a child's life) to draw attention. As you say, it is a bandwagon.

 

:thumbsup

 

I almost instinctively hit the 'Like' button on that one! FB is a boon, no doubt about that. Just that I hope that some seriousness should be applied to its use. Even fun is serious business!