The like or follow button is a feature found on many social media platforms and websites that allows users to show support or appreciation for certain content. When a user clicks the like or follow button, it registers their positive feedback and lets the creator of that content know that someone appreciated what they shared.
What does the like button do?
The main purpose of the like button is to be a quick and easy way for users to interact with content. Liking something shows the creator that you enjoyed their content without having to leave a full comment. It provides positive feedback and validation.
On many platforms, when you like a post, photo, video, or other content, it will show up in your friends’ or followers’ feeds that you liked that piece of content. So it also serves to broadcast to your network the types of things you enjoy or find interesting. You are signaling what kind of content you like to consume.
Likes are often displayed as totals on posts or profiles. Being able to see the like count on a post allows you to quickly gauge how relevant, interesting, or popular a piece of content is. Posts with higher like counts generally mean that content resonated with a larger number of people.
Benefits of likes
For the creator of content, likes provide valuable feedback and can do the following:
- Help increase the visibility and reach of their content
- Provide validation that their content is appreciated
- Indicate that their content is relevant and connecting with an audience
- Drive more engagement as likes often lead to more comments and shares
- Signal to algorithms that their content is high quality
For the users, likes allow them to:
- Quickly show appreciation for content
- Indicate what types of content they enjoy to their network
- Contribute to algorithms that will recommend relevant content in the future
- Find and connect with other users who have liked similar content
- Gauge how relevant or popular a piece of content is
What does the follow button do?
The follow button allows users to subscribe to certain profiles or accounts and receive updates on their activity. Rather than having to actively check back on a page, following allows users to passively stay up to date on content from creators they are interested in.
On a social media platform, users can follow friends, family, celebrities, influencers, brands, organizations, and more. On sites like Twitter and Instagram, accounts with more followers generally have greater reach and visibility for their content.
Other platforms like Facebook have a similar feature called Liking a Page. Users can like pages for brands, businesses, groups, public figures and get updates from those pages in their feed. Sites like YouTube allow users to subscribe to channels to follow creators and get notified when new videos are posted.
Benefits of following
For creators and businesses, amassing followers allows them to:
- Build an audience and customer base
- Increase visibility for their brand and content
- Broadcast content and messaging to current and potential customers
- Get valuable data and feedback on what their audience responds to
For users, following allows them to:
- Stay updated on creators and brands they are interested in
- Get a streamlined feed of content relevant to their interests
- Discover new accounts and creators that align with their tastes
- Promote and support creators that provide value to them
- Customize their social media experience to match their preferences
History and origins
One of the earliest and most influential sites to introduce the concept of liking content was Friendster. The social media platform launched in 2002 and let users show appreciation for profiles and content by giving a “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down.” This provided a simplified way for Friendster’s early users to interact.
When Facebook launched in 2004, users could become fans of Pages but could not formally like posts or content. The iconic Like button made its debut in February 2009 through a collaboration between Facebook and the Hunch company. Facebook engineers noticed that users were unofficially showing support for posts by writing comments like “yay” or “I like this”, so they developed the one-click Like button to simplify the process.
The Like button was then extended beyond Facebook as other platforms incorporated similar features. YouTube introduced the thumbs up Like button in 2010. Twitter launched its heart-shaped Like button in 2015. Instagram debuted its Like button for comments in 2016 and then for posts in 2017. Most major social networks now have some form of a Like or follow button.
Key dates
- 2002 – Friendster introduces Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down
- 2009 – Facebook rolls out its official Like button
- 2010 – YouTube adds a thumbs up Like button
- 2015 – Twitter adds a heart Like button
- 2016 – Instagram launches Like button for comments
- 2017 – Instagram adds Like button for posts
Psychology behind it
There are some psychological factors that explain why the like button became so ubiquitous across social platforms. According to psychologists, humans have a fundamental need for social validation and approval from others. Positive feedback triggers the reward centers in our brains and creates a pleasurable feeling.
On social media, likes represent a form of micro-validation. Even though liking a post is low effort and takes just one click, it provides a tiny boost to our self-esteem and satisfaction. This makes the like button an effective way to tap into the human desire for positive reinforcement from peers.
Social media also taps into the principle of social proof. When we see something has been liked or followed by many others, we tend to view it as being authoritative, trustworthy, and of higher quality. Having likes or followers leads to more likes or followers, creating a snowball effect of influence.
The tools of social media provide counterfeit forms of more substantive social interactions. While not as rewarding as deep in-person connections, these superficial inputs still activate our social needs enough to make the platforms addictive.
Criticisms
Some have argued that the presence of like and follow buttons contributes to some of the negative mental health impacts of social media. When much of someone’s self-esteem depends on external validation through likes, it can lead to anxiety, depression, and feelings of worthlessness.
The ease of liking content may also contribute to less thoughtful online interactions. Rather than fostering debate and discussion, posts are simply validated through likes. This can increase misunderstandings between those with opposing views.
Others criticize how the like button commodifies human connection and reduces personal interactions to data points for algorithms. They argue it reflects a shift towards more superficial relationships and interactions.
Usage and adoption
Despite some backlash, social media platforms report that usage of the like and follow buttons remains widespread. As of 2022, Facebook reported that there were an average of 55 million likes generated per minute on the platform. On Instagram, there were over 5 billion likes per day.
A survey conducted by The Manifest in 2022 found that 80% of social media users engage with the like button in some form. The follow button has also risen in popularity with 69% of users reporting following at least one brand, business, or creator.
This data indicates that most users regularly interact with these buttons. Liking and following remain deeply embedded into the social media experience and continue to be a primary method for users to offer feedback and connect.
Key usage stats
- 55 million Facebook likes per minute (2022)
- 5 billion+ Instagram likes per day (2022)
- 80% of users like content regularly (2022 survey)
- 69% of users follow at least one account (2022 survey)
Design evolution
While the purpose has remained the same, the visual design of the like and follow buttons has evolved across platforms over time.
Facebook’s Like button has gone through subtle styling changes, transitioning from blue to gray and then black and white. But the classic thumbs up icon has mostly stayed consistent.
YouTube originally used a star icon before switching to a thumbs up in 2010. Twitter’s heart icon was chosen as it was considered a more visually appealing shape than the star.
Instagram switched the color of its heart icon from blue to black in 2017 to stand out against more photo backdrops. Some platforms use icons tailored to their brand identity like Pinterest’s red P icon.
Most platforms have stuck with variants of thumbs up, stars, and hearts since those resonate as universal symbols of positive sentiment. The icons tend to use bold, high contrast colors to grab user attention.
In addition to look and feel, the placement and prominence of the buttons has shifted. Whereas likes were previously displayed upfront, some platforms like Facebook and YouTube have deemphasized them in response to mental health concerns.
Major design changes
- YouTube goes from star to thumbs up
- Twitter heart icon introduced
- Instagram Like switches from blue to black
- Facebook Like goes from blue to grayscale
- YouTube and Facebook likes become less prominent
Future outlook
It is unlikely that the like and follow buttons will disappear entirely from social platforms anytime soon. These types of quick feedback mechanisms for users seem almost inherent to the social media experience. However, we may see the importance and prominence of visible like counts decrease in the future.
With concerns around the potential negative mental health impacts, some platforms are experimenting with making like counts private or removing them entirely. Users could still like or follow content but would not see a public tally displaying counts. Instagram is currently testing this with some users.
We may also see smarter usage of likes emerge that relies more on algorithms and user preferences. Rather than displaying generic like counts, platforms may tailor the content users see to focus on what their connections with similar interests are liking and following.
It is clear that likes alone are a very limited representation of sentiment and interest. Social platforms are under pressure to either develop richer data around likes or to supplement likes with more qualitative forms of user feedback.
We can expect to see continued innovation and evolution around how social platforms allow users to interact. But the core purpose of likes and follows to build social validation will remain relevant even if the implementations change.
Potential changes
- Decreased emphasis on public like counts
- More private and personalized like data
- Algorithms focused on relevance over generic popularity
- New and improved forms of qualitative feedback
Conclusion
The like and follow button offer a convenient way for social media users to interact with content, signal interests, and build connections. Since being introduced in the early 2000s, likes and follows have become deeply embedded into the fabric of social platforms.
These one-click feedback mechanisms tap into humans’ innate craving for social validation. But they have also been criticized for contributing to more superficial relationships online. Social platforms continue to refine how likes are displayed and incorporated in response to unintended consequences.
Going forward, we are likely to see a deemphasis in the visibility of like counts and more personalized approaches. But in some form or another, the like and follow buttons are here to stay as simple expressions of users’ preferences and belonging on social networks.