What do we lose when we press the ‘Like’ Button?
The 9th of February 2006 has never been recorded as an extraordinary day in the history of humankind. However, this day was indeed extraordinary in giving a new meaning to human relationships. This day gave human connection a whole new meaning. It was the day when Facebook introduced the ‘like’ or ‘recommended’ button. A thumbs-up sign which then became a pandemic of its kind.
The Like option has become a digital dollar of gratitude. A medium of exchange with no value. It has started the expectation debt between virtual relations. People expect if one likes a status or a page then as an online return of kindness- a ‘virtual barter’- that person should get the like back. The old mantra of scratching each other’s backs, is now ‘You Like My Post And I Like Yours’. According to an estimate, there is a hard limitation of 5000 likes per day set by Facebook. This is the maximum quota of affection that a person can show. For Instagram, the like limit is set at 1000 with a daily follow quota of 200 new accounts in a day.
If you observe this online ubiquity vis a vis human brain capacity for social contacts, you will be shocked to see the capacity of human cognitive processing. We arrive at Dunbar’s number of 150 social contacts. In the 1990’s British anthropologist Robert Dunbar found a correlation between primate brain size and average social group size. For Sapiens, 150 stable relationships is the limit. While the estimated average friend count is 333 friends with a maximum friend limit of 5000.
Why is there greed for an over-accumulation of friends which we cannot cognitively maintain in the first place? If we do a litmus test of friendship and its natural concentration, we may arrive back at the number 150. One of the reasons may be human social extroversions which do not allow us to be held accountable whenever we give a like or click for sending or accepting a new friend request. This is because the maximum it asks is pressing the Like button. We have been doing it so much that now it has become a mechanical and a frivolous exercise.
This button altered the basis of human conversations. Maybe from Facebook’s perspective, it might have been a solid strategy for easier engagement as well as greater retention time on the platform. It was a revolution which went beyond Facebook and ascended to other platforms. Now, this thumbs-up sign is ever-present, like an omnipresent deity. It seemed to be the day when in a literal sense, a picture became worth a thousand words.
As humans are progressing in connection, they are degrading in conversation. The connection can be remote, outside the tribe with all the unknowns, but the communication within the tribe-or even a monologue-is absent. The suppleness of our speech is one of the rare qualities that differentiates sapiens from the rest of the planet’s inhabitants. Speech is the rescue belt that kicks in whenever a person wants to interact. From a philosophical standpoint, speech is the victory of sound over silence.
Over time, everyone falls into a state of flux. No one is alone, but most are lonely. They are lonely together like a person is naked in a glasshouse. A haven where all is visible yet no place to hide is seen. Maybe it is time to go back to conversations. Participating in meaningful conversations with one another rather than swimming in the online oceans of content while sitting on comfy couches.
