The Power of a ‘Like’:
These days the LIKE function on social media carries with it the veritable power of an executioners thumb. When you ‘Like’ something you are signaling to your self created network (comprised of work colleagues, family, friends and acquaintances) a multitude of personal messages starting with your: Political beliefs. Social and cultural interests – such as music, film, religion etc..Sexual orientation. Relationship status. Who you like to associate with. Your movements whilst you browse. Gender. Language. If you rent or own your own home. If you shop online, and on and on the list goes….
One of these actions of a LIKE on social sites will then send a further message (via clever algorithms) to site administrators, advertisers, businesses (whoever is ready to pay for the information) which will determine what you see next. For example:
- The interest posts you will continue to see when on the site
- The products that will be served up and sold to you
- The display banners that will follow you around the internet after leaving that site
- The database lists you will be added to
- And, the groups you will be able to join
Whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, YouTube or any of the many others, once you’ve signed up, you are providing them with your data. In fact I recently heard that Facebook captures up to 1,000,000 data points of information on each active user (though I am yet to see actual data on this). But consider if this was true, what this means. Can you even begin to think of 1 million things about yourself? Try it, I dare you.
The Psychology of a ‘Like’:
So, why is a LIKE so important? Let’s consider how a LIKE makes you feel. You add a post to one of your social channels, it gets immediate support. Do you feel a sense of achievement? Does it put a little skip in your step?There’s no doubt, a LIKE has the ability to make you feel positive emotions as they indicate support, popularity and a feeling that people like you and/or like what you do, from your online community. That’s powerful right? A simple thumbs up, can really make an impact.
Adversely, when a post doesn’t get the response you expected, you can have feelings of doubt, disappointment and alienation. And the negative side can be that your aim for LIKES, becomes all-consuming as you relate to them for approval and status.
If you are a business owner or social media manager you will be aiming to gain encouragement from a virtual audience, who indicate agreement or support of your posts. Your biggest goal will be to write or share content that is valuable, that encourages them to like and share your posts so you can gain brand exposure, and widen your reach.
So, how do you get your customers and followers to like your posts on social media? Read my previous blog here for some tips.
