Types of Likes

Have you ever noticed that your reason for ‘liking’ something on Facebook is very dependent on context? 

Pity like – when you like something nobody else has, because even though you might not care about the content of the post, you care about the person posting it. Has the potential to be embarrassing if your like isn’t supported by others and you’re left hanging.

Flirt like – when you like an attractive person’s post or comment without reading it, and then spend ten minutes trawling through their profile photos.

Politically correct like – when you like an article or video in which you don’t really understand the argument or even care enough to read/watch it but do understand that not liking it will make you appear sexist or a bigot. Deft users can combine this with the Flirt like to appear more intelligent and attractive to their potential love.

Sympathy like – when somebody posts something you actually don’t like (‘My dog just died’), but liking the status is, paradoxically, the correct way to show support.

Peer pressure like - if everybody liked the video ‘Jumping off cliffs’, would you like it too?

Stop bothering me like – when you like something that you didn’t bother to read or watch simply so the person who posted it feels gratified. Can be embarrassing if you see that person in real life and they ask you about it.

Affirmative like – when you like a post that says ‘I’ll meet you at twelve o’clock in the conservatory’ so you don’t have to write a response.

Like for a like – when you like somebody’s comment in a thread in the hope that it will increase the chances of them liking your follow up comment.

Return like – the inverse of the like for a like, in which you feel that you should like somebody’s comment because they liked yours. When the above two are used excessively they have the potential to decrease the value of a like.

Accidental like – when you like somebody’s photo by mistake while stalking them. Can lead to the difficult choice of either surreptitiously ‘unliking’ the picture or, more courageously, letting it stand and seeing what happens.

Phantom like – when you don’t like a post but write a comment underneath that says ‘Haha’ or ‘I love this!’

Self like – when you like your own content. Closely related to the Pity like. 

OCD like – when you like the only comment in a thread that doesn’t have a ‘like’ so that everything looks neater.

Token friendship like – when you like somebody’s post about their life changing moment, but still don’t care enough to be bothered getting into a conversation with them about it.



The word ‘like’ now looks ridiculous and has lost all meaning.