It’s like that old song When Liking Turns to Loving. The folks at Facebook are making some changes. Once again, the powers that be are tinkering with our love lives. Or, at least, our “like lives.” Yes, Facebook is downgrading the classic act of “Fanning” to merely “Liking.” Apparently, people using Facebook have not been all that keen about clicking these buttons marked “Become a Fan.” In fact, “Like” buttons are clicked nearly twice as often. Not surprising, really.
After all, isn’t being a fan just one baby step away from becoming a stalker? And stalkers are right up there with mimes and lawyers in terms of popularity. It sort of makes sense. So, from now on, no Facebook friend will ever again invite you to become a fan of a brand. They will simply ask you to like it. It is clearly a lesser form of attachment. Sort of like being “just friends” after a messy breakup. No strings. No commitment. Just goodwill. But it seems like fuzzy math to me. There may be another reason that people clicked ”like” more often. Laziness. I always felt the people who clicked “Like” buttons were simply those people who didn’t want to leave a real message. It is always easier to click “Like” than to write a clarifying question such as, ”Is that your newborn baby or a picture of Winston Churchill?” The “Like” button to me has been the cop-out button. The “I’m too busy” button. The button for those of us who can’t come up with witty rejoinders like, “Dude, you look so wasted!!!” Of course, people do click it more often. And that in statistics, is always a good thing. The question is: Will people click it more often when tied to a brand’s fan page? Maybe. Maybe not. We shall see.
