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Try as you might, there is no escaping some things online nowadays. They are not particularly well explained in their purpose and function, and the few attempts I have heard made less sense than strapping a sandwich to a cat in order to create anti-gravity. What is the purpose of all these little buttons marked "Like" that litter virtually every web site?

Of course I do know what a "Like" actually is; it's a way for Facebook to figure out how to better serve you ads. What I'm actually questioning is what is the purpose of these "Likes" outside of the scope of what use Facebook has of them. Why do companies and individuals have a need or desire for these MacGuffins?

Artists and bands who want to draw attention to themselves make at least a bit more sense, but constantly being told, sorry, encouraged to click their "Like" button is becoming quite annoying, at least for me. Should it be a regular person who is chasing these little, apparently magical clicks, I think it's even worse. Putting a spotlight on a good topic that deserves attention is nothing I look down upon, but rather the opposite. I just don't see the purpose of competing in having the most "Likes".

In terms of actual benefit for a company, I don't think a "Like" means diddly-squat, honestly. The amount of "Likes" you have is in no way proportional to how many products you sell or how many customers hire your services. Say if Pepsi has more "Likes" than Coca Cola, but Coca Cola makes more profit that quarter, what good are they? Something tells me that the shareholders of Pepsi won't be jumping in their seats from joy due the larger number of "Likes" compared to their competition.

But it's of course not limited to only individuals and companies. I have seen municipal governments, not far from where I live, brag on posters and in local newspapers about how many "Likes" their pages on Facebook got during a given campaign. Does this mean that all the citizens are incredibly happy with the town or that the public view of the place is impeccable? Since the number of likes were in the thousands and there are quite a few more people living there, I'd wager not. Again, what do these amazing little "Likes" actually do?

My theory is that this is part of the contemporary phenomenon where people have some bizarre and very strong desire for self-validation via people giving them virtual pats on their backs. This has spilled over into companies and government institutions via marketing companies and hiring of younger people, who in my experience tend to obsess over anything related to FaceBook. A number in a Facebook database doesn't really change much in the real world.

Perhaps I'm over-thinking this. Maybe the answer has been in front of me the whole time: it's just another way of participating in the big club for mutual admiration, which so many humans just love to do.

Robert Falck

Robert is a freelance tech writer from Sweden. You can follow his posts here on the British Tech Network, listen to him yap away on the British Tech iOS Show and read even more of his stuff on his site streakmachine.com or you can even follow him on twitter @streakmachine. (But you won't find him on Facebook!)

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Robert Falck

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