In elementary school, children trade items in their lunch boxes, creating their own currency. “I’ll trade you some Goldfish for some Gushers.” Through this transaction, Gushers are given a value that reigns above Goldfish. This value was constructed by the children partaking in the transaction. This childhood interaction lends itself to the social media phenomenon known as “Like for Like.”
Since when have likes become a currency that can be bought, traded, and negotiated?
A “like” is a form of acknowledgment that allows a social media user to know that someone in the outside world approves of or enjoys a post. The number of likes that someone has means that they have received the acknowledgment of a quantified amount of people. The likes represent that the post has been seen, and interacted with using a double tap or click. But how many times have you gone on your phone and have liked everything because you are in a giving mood? How many times have you liked a picture on Instagram without looking at it because your best friend posted it? How many times have you liked a photo because you received a message that your friend’s cousin needed to win a contest? How many times has your friend asked you to like their photo so they can like your photo in return thus proving to your other friends that you are popular in the social media cosmos?
Likes are nothing more than an algorithm that social media developers use to track what you enjoy so they can target the posts you see to suit your interests.
The more likes a post gets, the more prominent it is on your news feed and the news feeds of others. This is how posts go viral. There are many websites that allow businesses to buy likes to gain more traction for their posts so they can become more visible. There are Facebook groups for entrepreneurs for the sole purpose of negotiating “like for like” transactions.
Why do likes matter? How do they affect our mental health?
Instagram and Facebook have both proposed the idea of getting rid of the “like” feature on each of their respective apps. I am a huge fan of this proposition for many reasons. In an Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, Shepard and his wife Kristen Bell discussed how one of the purposes of social media is for people to promote their accomplishments. In ancient civilizations, societies were small — about 150 people. Every single person was an expert in something. In our macrocosmic society, every single human being has the tools to compare their abilities to others. We all have access to see someone who is better than us at something, no matter how arbitrary the scale is and no matter the topic.
Once I heard this podcast, I deleted my Instagram app. Why did I need constant access to an app where all I do is compare myself to others?
I have noticed that the posts that get the most likes are when people announce their college or grad school decisions. Sometimes I feel that I am professionally or educationally inadequate. When I see my friend’s engagement posts, I sometimes feel that I will be forever alone. This was making me feel bad.
I then decided to post a video on Instagram because well, I’m human and downloaded the app again. I kept refreshing and refreshing the app and realized that this wasn’t accomplishing anything. I don’t usually refresh Instagram a million times a day unless I post a picture to see how much traction it’s getting and how many likes it has. This has messed with my own mental health. As a person with anxiety, I have the constant pressure and fear that someone does not like my picture or video or that I’m not funny enough or pretty enough or social enough or--- do you see what this does with an anxious person’s mind?!?
While anxiety is one of the most common mental health issues, becoming less stigmatized each day, this little monster is affecting even the calmest of minds. Instagram is adding unnecessary anxiety for individuals because of this constant need to be liked. I have felt anxious about who I am and what I do for the past 13 years of my life and I do not wish this feeling upon anybody.
With the deletion of likes on Instagram, will that lessen the anxiety?
It may, but then Instagram would no longer serve a purpose. If not for fueling our ever-growing egos, why does Instagram matter? While I continue to ponder the essential use of social media, I’ll delete the app again… until I have something else to share.
