Skip to main content

What Does A Like Mean?

In these times where the the World Wide Web—particularly the social media—is the main medium, Facebook's news feed is our most accessible newspaper. The News Feed has become one of our windows to what's happening or has happened within our circles (family and relatives, friends, communities) and around the world.

Image credit: personneltoday.com

With our scrolling (which often becomes too tedious), we see a plethora of posts, either they may be statuses, photos, or links. And along with these posts, Facebook introduced us to three functions we could use to respond to posts and to reactions to those posts, as well as to see whether our posts are well-received or not. These are the like, the comment, and the share. Among these three, the like is what Facebook is mostly known for; it even has taken its place on contemporary language and culture.
But what does a like mean these days? As I have observed in my daily practice of logging on to Facebook,  that blue "thumbs-up" hand means more than a like.

In the first place, a like is an appreciation of a post. We click that thumbs-up because we're delighted, amused, or entertained about it. Now, a like may also mean we understand the situation happening in an area. A like may heighten the interest in posts about stories "of national interest". A like may also mean an affirmation of our awareness of a cause raised through a post.

A like may mean that we're with the one who posted about a certain plight of him or groups affiliated with him. And for anyone who shares something out of his/her heart in a lengthy post, a like may bring comfort. At least, depending on the depth of our relationship with that sharer, we know what's going through with him/her. And so we're with him/her.

Aside from those, especially in these times when anyone can be reached out a fingertip away, a like may mean that some announcement addressed to us is "Noted." It's a sign that we really received the message, not that we've just "seen" it.

A like may also mean that a post has served as a reminder for the one who liked it. I usually do that, just in case I need to go back to that notable quote or Bible verse; because I thought of doing so for the purpose of returning to it, like notes in a class. However, I have rarely return to them.

The blue thumbs-up icon named like has meant much in this age of advanced and advancing ways of communication. The symbol has much meaning, but this meaning actually depends on how the viewer uses or receives it.

But the like isn't only the Facebook function that is dynamic. Shares and comments mean a lot too, and I think they mean better than likes do. An online news satire series notes it very suitably: "Higit sa like, share!" (More than liking it, share it!)

(But pardon me, I haven't shared an episode of that show yet!)

So, what do you think? Do you have other definitions of 'like'? Have your say and give a comment!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Adrian's Mid-Year Melodies: 2024

Last year, before we welcomed the present year, I recalled 2023 in ten songs (and some more), which I labelled "My Tracks of the Year," after a well-known BBC Radio 2 fixture in weekday mornings. And now that we have gone fairly midway through 2024, I want to share this time the songs I've enjoyed in the past months, most of which have been soundtracking all that I've been through: the small wins, the crushing setbacks, the weight of work being alleviated by music, the roller-coaster of feelings being diagnosed by lyrics. I call this my "Mid-Year Melodies." On the Spotify / YouTube playlist there are 40 songs, but for this blog I'll highlight ten songs, with some special mentions.  Let's get right into it. 1. The Lovers - Alexander O' Neal (1987) After appreciating RnB/soul artist Alexander O'Neal with his classic "Criticize" during Christmas season, in January I've loved his album Hearsay , with its cool narrative of a party w...

Adrian's Tracks of The Year 2024: The Year of Thinking and Rediscovering

In the adulting years, I realized, the Christmas and yearend season can get stressful and draining with the blended rush of remaining work, multiple parties, and numerous bouts of shopping and other errands (It's even hard to sneak in writing this piece). Nonetheless, what still gets me excited at this time is the chance to revisit the songs I discovered and enjoyed throughout the year, especially through Spotify Wrapped. More than the songs, I also like to reflect on the moments and thoughts soundtracked by these songs. This led me to a resolve to come up with a playlist of the songs that marked the year, which I call "My Tracks of the Year."  From my inaugural 60 or so tracks playlist last year, I've picked 100 this time. Many of these songs are new releases this year and new discoveries, yet highlights from this year also come from tracks I once heard in the past years but now have deeper meanings to me as they chronicle my musings in the past months.  It's dif...

Adrian's Mid-Year Melodies 2025: The words, the vibes, the feels

Answering the question " Kumusta ?" ("How are you?" in Filipino) can take a lot of time. Even when one can simply say " Okay lang " ("Just fine"), there's much to expound within those two words, often to find out things haven't really been "just fine." And likely it would take more than a few minutes to explain how one has been. Yet, with work consuming much of my (and my friends') time and energy, I've realized it has not been easy anymore to tell somebody how I've really been. It remains astounding to see that we have passed midway through this year, much more that I've reached another year in life personally, now two years short of marking my third decade (and becoming an older single). Yet, it seems that whenever I've tried to reflect on these spans of time, it's hard to pinpoint where to start. Thankfully, as I've started compiling playlists to mark each year and mid-year, I can now reflect on li...