If you post something on Facebook there is a good chance that someone will click the like button, but what do those Facebook likes really mean? Sure, sometimes someone clicks the Facebook like button to say “I like this,” but what if they click like on a picture of your loved one who died or on a link to a sad news story you shared? In those cases clicking like doesn’t really translate to liking something. Of course the best way for people to clearly convey their thoughts on a post would be to skip the like button and type a comment instead, but using words is so much work! Clicking like is much easier even if it can be a bit ambiguous.
To help you interpret the likes that may spring up on your Facebook page, here are 20 things that those Facebook likes may really mean:
- Congratulations!
- Thank you.
- I LOVE this.
- Right on, sister! (or brother)
- I understand.
- This is a picture of a cute animal.
- This is a picture of a baby.
- This is a picture of me that I don’t hate you for posting.
- I accidentally clicked this.
- I like the memory you shared of a loved one who died, and I’m sorry for your loss.
- I like the fact that you shared this important news story, but I don’t like what it describes.
- tl;dr (a.k.a. too long; didn’t read).
- I’m bored/drunk and clicking on random things.
- I agree with you on this divisive issue but not so much that I want to leave a comment that other people may attack me for.
- I have no idea what this means, but others seem to like it.
- I don’t like the fact that something bad happened to you, but I like your attitude about it.
- You tagged me in this, and I’m acknowledging that I saw it.
- I’m pretending I’m okay with this, but I’m really not.
- I’m your mother.
- I haven’t read this link and have no intention of doing so, but as a fellow blogger I understand that if your post doesn’t get engagement Facebook will stop showing it to people. I’m hoping that if I click like it will help get you more readers, and if you see that I clicked like you might click like when you see something I post to Facebook.
Did I miss anything your Facebook likes may be trying to convey?
If you liked this or felt any other of a number of emotions, be sure to click the Facebook like button above or below this post. If you haven’t already done so you can even like my entire Facebook page!
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In addition to Facebook, you can also find Kim Z. Dale on Twitter and Google+.
Kim Z. Dale 