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Posted on September 13, 2009 - by Wayne Sutton
Home > The psychology behind social engagement: What does it mean when you click the "Like" button?

The psychology behind social engagement: What does it mean when you click the "Like" button?

Featured Social Media social networks

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Photo via Jeffisageek flickr
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m thinking about the psychology of social engagement. Why do people “Like” comments / post and what does it mean, when they “Like” something. If you look a lot of popular social media sites such as Facebook, friendfeed and even video social networking sites like Vimeo all have a like button or link. Also with social commenting platforms such as Disqus, you can now even hit the “Like” button on comments. Even url shortener services have a “Like” button such as StumbleUpon’s su.pr

But what does it mean when you hit the “Like” button and why don’t we see a “Dislike” button. Twitter doesn’t even have a “Like” button or feature but when you ReTweet a tweet does that mean you actually saying that you “Like” it?  The “Like” feature comes in various formats too. A lot of times you’ll see it as a “Thumbs up” or a “Heart” or just a text link saying “Like”. Some sites/blogs use stars for rating post or videos such as YouTube but they also use “Thumbs” for voting comments. Does stars mean you “Like” it and when you give a video 5 stars means you just “Like” it a lot?

Two services that really push the mentality of “Liking” a post are Slashdot and Digg. Slashdot uses the plus/minus feature if a reader “Likes” a post and Digg users created their own lingo so to speak as to when “Digg” something you “Like” it. Or are you saying I’m endorsing it when I “Digg” a post.

Sorry that I have more questions than answers but I’m sticking to my saying that “I don’t have all the answers but my social network does”. So with that being said here are a few more questions:

  • When you click on a “Like” link do you feel ad though as you are endorsing the content?
  • Do we really need a “Dislike” link?
  • Should Twitter add a “Like” feature?
  • Should Brightkite add a “Like” feature?
  • Should Facebook and Friendfeed add a “Dislike” link next to the “Like” button?
  • Why do you “Like” a post but won’t leave a comment”?
  • Do you “Like” this post? (he he)
  • Do you know the first site to add a “Like” button?

Here’s a look at various “Like” buttons from the web.

StumbleUpon with Like feature
StumbleUpon WebToolbar - StalkerCheck, I Mean FanCheck: Explosive New App Gains 5 Million Users in One Day

Vimeo with Like feature (heart)
What's Next? WordPress [JAK 2] on Vimeo

Facebook with Like feature
Facebook | Home

Friendfeed with Like feature
FriendFeed - My discussions

Digg’s Thumbs Up/Down in comments
Sprint CEO calls iPhone the

Disqus Comments with Like feature
louisgray.com: Real-time Google Reader Shares to Twitter - There's An App for That.

I’m not sure who started the “Like” social phenomenon of giving users a quick way of expression their stamp of approval for online content but it has been adopted by the social web community. Your thoughts?


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Written by Wayne Sutton

Wayne is the business development/marketing strategist for TriOut and partner at OurHashtag. For more, follow SocialWayne.com on Twitter, Buzz, and Facebook. Also check out the SocialWayne Podcast in iTunes. See all posts by Wayne Sutton.


Tags: BlogsbrightkitecommentscommunitydiggFacebooklikelike buttonlike featurelike somethingpeoplepsychologyslashdotsocial engagementSocial Mediasocial webstumbleuponTwitter
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Featured, Social Media, social networks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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  1. Visit My Website

    September 13, 2009

    Permalink

    Robin said:


    Hey Wayne,

    I LIKE this post.

    When I click the like button on a post, it’s because the content resonated with me. And often because I couldn’t have said it better myself, liking the post is enough.

    I think it’s just another way to establish common ground in this big/small world of ours.

    Robin



  2. Visit My Website

    September 13, 2009

    Permalink

    Critter said:


    I usually click ‘Like’ because I cannot be bothered at the time to drop a comment.. *shrug*



  3. Visit My Website

    September 14, 2009

    Permalink

    Sebastian Küpers said:


    just one remark: twitter has a like button. you can fav every tweet. it’s the star next to every tweet ;)



    • Visit My Website

      September 14, 2009

      Permalink

      Critter said:


      but under normal circumstances.. nobody knows you are ‘faving’ their tweet.. on Twitter, I would equate a retweet more to a like than a fave…by social media standards.. *shrug*



      • Visit My Website

        September 14, 2009

        Permalink

        Wayne Sutton said:


        Thanks for the comments everyone. Duh I forgot about the favorite option in twitter but Critter you’re right, nobody knows if you fav. a tweet.

        I’m glad you “Like” the post



  4. Visit My Website

    September 14, 2009

    Permalink

    Sebastian Küpers said:


    well there is of course a way to see that. there are services like http://favstar.fm/ you may wanna try out.

    but true – you can’t really the that with twitter or tools like tweetdeck directly next to a tweet(yet)

    but good post anyway :) just wanted to mention that.



  5. Visit My Website

    July 13, 2010

    Permalink

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Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. PAULSON PRODUCTIONS - 13. Sep, 2009

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  2. Hanna Wiszniewska - 14. Sep, 2009

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  3. Corvida - 14. Sep, 2009

    The Psychology Behind Social Engagement: Clicking The “Like” Button – http://ow.ly/pdFq

  4. Brett Petersel - 14. Sep, 2009

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  5. Cat Le-Huy - 14. Sep, 2009

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  6. Joel Mackey - 14. Sep, 2009

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  7. Joseph Cannizzaro - 14. Sep, 2009

    RT @webaddict: RT @brett: The Psychology Behind Social Eng: Clicking The "Like" Button – http://bit.ly/UHZgc (by @waynesutton via @cordiva)

  8. Monica Mcpherrin - 14. Sep, 2009

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  9. jardenberg kommenterar – 2009-09-15 — jardenberg unedited - 15. Sep, 2009

    [...] The psychology behind social engagement: What does it mean when you click the “Like” button? [...]



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