The Theory of Earning Your 'Likes'

I sometimes get a request to like something or someone of facebook and I oblige most times. You cannot turn an earnest request down, can you? Though there many not be anything too 'likeable' about whatever it was, it will warrant a 'like' on facebook as long as it is not completely detestable and abhorrent.

It is a big thing apparently to be liked by many people, even if you don't know who they are, if they don't know who you are and so on. Please like. So I believe from friends of mine who are in the business of making companies and products bigger than they really are, by getting many people to 'like' things.

I don't think its a good idea to flippantly use like on facebook anymore and I refuse to indulge in any more liking from my side when it is not the case really. Any like or love has to be earned and not sought after, pushed down someone's throat (with a gun to their head sometimes). If people are more careful with their likes, its possible that we could get some good stuff - because then whoever wants to be liked, would really put some effort into it. Movies, products, services, books.

I was talking to a friend of mine who runs a business and their main concern right now is to get more likes from people, than to actually deliver the service. I suppose seeing all these thousands of 'likes' will make people go to the site to see what is so likeable about it, but what is on the site has to have good content for people to come back and use it. More effort should be on improving the content and providing serious value than on collecting pointless likes.

It seems to work in the same way with movies and with other creative forms as well these days. Movies from big production houses, big stars, are made with a lot of hoopla and promotion and there are people going overboard liking them, and it could pretty much mislead the makers into believing that they have made a good movie or written a great book or done something well when it is not the case. There is just not enough thought in making the content, products or services that it warrants a 'like' really.

Its time everyone went back to asking the basic question - why are we doing this. Unless a large number of people really like the product or service after experiencing it (and not by clicking on an icon without knowing what it is) that product has not worked hard enough to earn the respect, the liking of people. So whatever it is, whichever side you are on, be sure that the likes have to be earned. Else its just a fake number - like the people we see in political rallies. Sometime soon the Emperor's New Clothes will be shown for what they really are.