Like

I use the ‘like’ option on Twitter a lot (despite the icon being a heart, which I would take to actually mean I ‘love’ the tweet).

But I don’t use it to mean I like the tweet. Well, not always.

I use the like button to mean the following, and sometimes a few of them at the same time:

• You know what, I do ‘like’ this tweet
• Approval or agreement on the sentiment of the tweet or the tweeter
• I’m saving/bookmarking this to remember so I can come back to it
• A tweet, an article, a sentiment I want to read or research more of later
• Showing appreciation to the author, who I may not follow or may not follow me

The irony is that I now have liked over 11,000 tweets. And have sent over 62,000 tweets. I’m sure if you look back through my likes you may be able to see which ones are genuine likes (replies to me, something said about me or to me, tweets from accounts and people who are important to me, etc), me showing appreciation, etc.

If you were on Twitter before 2015 you’ll remember the switch from the star icon to the heart, yes? I’d still rather it was the star, as the heart icon has a different connotation for me. There have been but a handful of genuine ‘love’ for a tweet.

But, and here’s the thing, a Twitter ‘like’ is not the same as a Facebook ‘like’? Is it? Facebook has different elements of sentiment, from like, care, love, laugh, etc. LinkedIn has joined the game introduced its own sentiments, with a different more professional twist.

Do you use the buttons/options differently based on the platform and how you use it? Or do you use the ‘thumbs up’ icon to mean ‘like’ irrespective of the platform?

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash