If you are a regular user of social platforms, you will have used it countless times. What are we referring to? Al “Like” buttonObviously. Have you ever wondered how the “Like” button was born and why it has become so popular on social media? Well, you should know that the “like” was not invented by Facebookbut was first introduced on Vimeo In the 2005a platform that was inspired by the button “Digg” present on the site of the same name Digg.com. Next, the social FriendFeed adopted the idea and relaunched it inOctober 2007before being acquired by Facebook in 2009, which implemented the “Like” button on the platform, making it one of its flagship functions. The success of the button on Facebook was practically immediate. However, over time it has also encouraged attention to simple and polarizing content, profoundly changing the dynamics of social media.
When the “Like” button was born
Contrary to what you might think, the “Like” button is not a Facebook invention. The idea of a button to click to express your appreciation for a piece of content, in fact, dates back to November 2005when the video sharing platform Vimeointroduced the “Like” button inspired by “Digg” button of the social bookmarking site Digg.com. The developer of Vimeo Andrew Pile commented on the matter by saying: «We liked the concept of Digg, but we didn’t want to call (the button) “Digg,” so we invented “Like”».
Subsequently, the idea was also taken up by social media FriendFeedwhich officially launched it on October 30, 2007making it very popular among users of the platform. Later, the feature was integrated into Facebook, before FriendFeed was acquired by Facebook on August 10, 2009.
Even though he didn’t invent the “Like” button, it became famous thanks to Facebook. In the 2007one of Facebook’s three product managers at the time, Leah Pearlmannoticed that commenting on posts to leave your appreciation for other people’s content was an inefficient and direct way of using the platform. So she and her team wanted to create a quick and easy way to show approval without having to leave comments. The project that led to the birth of the iconic “Facebook thumbs up”called with the code name “Props”had precisely this objective.
The materialization of the “Like” button, however, was not immediate. In fact, various technical and design challenges had to be addressed. Among other things, it was necessary to resolve doubts about the name to give to the button (they were undecided whether to call it “Fantastic” or “Like”) and understand the implications related to privacy and future use of the latter. The latter, among other things, had initially pushed Mark ZuckerbergCEO and co-founder of Facebook, to oppose the implementation of the button. But with data showing increased interaction with the button, Zuckerberg finally gave in and approved the idea. The February 9, 2009 the “Like” button was officially launched on Facebook, accompanied by the iconic thumbs updrawn using Photoshop software.
Why the “Like” button has become popular with social media
When the “Like” button arrived on Facebook, its impact was immediate and overwhelming. Users of the social network liked the new method of interaction, and soon the button became a widespread presence on the Internet. On Zuckerberg’s platform, the small button began to influence the distribution of content on users’ feeds, as the posts that received the most likes were promoted by the algorithm, reaching an increasingly larger audience.
Over time, however, the “Like” button has also shown its negative sides. Instead of fostering authentic and meaningful interactions, it has encouraged the search for quick and easy consensus. Simpler, more polarizing content began to dominate, while more complex or nuanced content tended to receive less attention. This has had significant implications for the media, politics and society as a whole, leading to information that is often superficial and aimed at getting as many likes as possible.
Despite the criticism, the “Like” button has remained a symbol of social media culture, imitated by other platforms such as Instagram and they could have done something different and better. One thing is certain: when Facebook launched the thumbs up icon, «the trajectory of social media has changed forever», to use the words of the professor. Cal Newport in the book Digital minimalism.
Sources
Digital Minimalism (Cal Newport), pp. 150-154