I don't Like myself

(no, this is NOT a suicide note!)

[LifeinAsia]

For some time, I've seen several people who Like their own posts on FB. It's rather sad to see a post with 1 Like (by the author) and no comments. Lately, I've been seeing people on LinkedIn doing the same thing (posting and immediately Liking their post).

Not sure if it's a narcissist thing or if people think they're gaming the system by adding an interaction to the post, hoping to give it a boost in the platform's algorithm. But I also suspect that by now the platforms should be smart enough to discount self-Likes.

Like WebmasterWorld, I don't allow people to Like their own posts (or review their own businesses) on my platforms. Granted, they can always get another account and use them for Likes and reviews, but (so far) that seems to be too much work for the people who want to take the easy route and Like their own posts.

Does anyone here Like themselves?

[lucy24]

Heh. Back when I spent more time reading Disqus threads than I do now, there would occasionally be someone who upvoted themselves. Inevitably this led to all-around mockery and derision as soon as someone noticed. I think I once upvoted myself by accident--and couldn't remove the upvote fast enough, out of sheer embarrassment.

[thecoalman]

I send myself private messages so I feel wanted. You can do this on phpBB forum software, not sure about others.

I almost never use that "like" button for other peoples posts let alone my own. The rare occasion is when I read something truly funny. I liked both posts previous to mine, anyone else want a like? How about I'll dislike the above two posts for anyone who wants to trade a like for mine?

[martinibuster]

I think seniors who don't know how computers work tend to do that kind of thing. Not all seniors. Just the ones who are confused by technology.

[lucy24]

The rare occasion is when I read something truly funny.

One of my hard-and-fast rules is that if something makes me laugh out loud, it gets an upvote. (I do not, of course, count the laugh of sheer disbelief at someone else's stupidity.)

I send myself private messages so I feel wanted.

Not long ago I accidentally emailed myself. I was replying to something that had been sent to a different email address than the one I was writing from, and ... well, I don't really know how it happened, but by and by I found something from me in my inbox. (I'm still not sure I succeeded in re-sending it to the person I'd meant to write to.)

[LifeinAsia]

I think seniors who don't know how computers work tend to do that kind of thing.

The one guy I know who does it all the time on FB isn't quite senior, and I would be surprised if he was technology challenged. The ones I see doing it on LinkedIn are definitely not seniors.

[tangor]

The web these days is all about "likes", a form of validation. Obviously some will attempt to game the "system".

On the other hand ... the person who writes something OBVIOUSLY likes what they wrote and should be a vote (of one). Even politicians can vote for themselves!

[Marshall]

I do not like anyone. I am just here for the free cookies :)

[brotherhood of LAN]

I don't see it as a 'thing'. Classic INTJ personality type.

People will type stuff with one motivation or another, might be for their own benefit or to share something they think warms the hearts of everyone else. The middle ground is very blurry and not obvious whether it's for the greater good.

Someone could have a high number of likes and I'll stone cold disagree with them, sometimes to the detriment of me. There's no currency in those buttons, only ideas! The currency of social media interactions is for kids looking for answers - I guess us older generations found those answers from people we trusted more, or who knows, maybe an arbitrarily high number of them mean something.

Given the amount of fake guff shared on social media, I'd say who's to tell.

Surely it's one of those tragedy of the commons things, suddenly the whole world has a voice online yet much of it is self-serving.

[engine]

The "like" thing is, in part, something people look for which makes them and their posts feel popular. It's especially the case with the generation that grew up with social media. They rely on having many hundreds, if not thousands of friends liking their posts. They can't possibly have that many real friends.

As for liking one's own posts on social media, I'd say that's a bit sad.