I’m a serial liker.
I don’t remember the first time I liked something. It was probably a post on Facebook, perhaps when the feature first rolled out?
My next foray into social media was Twitter, and back in those days, you could star a post to indicate your like. Of course, now that has turned into a heart (unless I’m mistaken – I only use Twitter on my phone and refuse to update my Twitter app to X, so there are definitely features I don’t see).
After Twitter, I explored Tumblr and Instagram around the same time. Tumblr had already implemented the heart for liking a post, as had Instagram, but I think I favored the reblog option and reserved likes for posts I thought I might reblog later, when the pattern of my reblogged posts allowed them to fit in.
All of this is to say that I’m not unfamiliar with the function of liking posts on social media, and I have liberally used those features for over fifteen years now (yikes). All of those accounts still exist and continue to hold onto those liked posts deep in the bowels of some servers somewhere.
And for what? Have I returned to that tweet I liked in May of 2017 about Harry Styles’s character in Dunkirk? Have I gone back to that Tumblr text post I liked in November 2014 where the original poster poured their heart into a lament about unrequited love? Have I clicked the link-in-bio mentioned on that ad-sponsored Instagram post from April 2020 about anti-fog lens wipes for eyeglasses?
Of course not. While the original creators of those tweets and posts gained a number from me to add to their account statistics, I gained a fleeting sense of bookmarking an interesting tidbit of information to review in the future. And I continue to do so! As I’m writing this, I’ve been taking quick breaks, scrolling on Twitter and Instagram and reflexively liking posts that tickle my funny bone or provoke my intellect. It’s a habit I’ve developed and fed into for over half of my lifetime.
That’s terrifying.
Algorithmic timelines have since changed the utility of likes, at least in the way I use them. Whether consciously or not, I’ve informed my algorithm of the content I prefer to see through the types of posts I like, and that allows me to continue to see similar posts, especially on the “For You” timelines ubiquitous of Twitter and TikTok (which I’m purposely not discussing here as I feel like an interloping user of that platform rather than a native user).
I should probably research* a few things before I post this, like
- When did Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram start utilizing likes?
- Facebook started using them in 2009
- Twitter started using them in 2006
- Unsure about tumblr, but it may have existed at the outset in 2007
- Instagram started using likes in 2010
- How do timeline algorithms work?
- By machine learning, where the software takes in the patterns of the posts you’ve liked and suggest similar posts that may fit into those patterns (based on my very limited understanding of how machine learning works)
- What happens to the likes you put on posts on Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram, from a data/server perspective?
- Facebook – they actually do get stored since the physical size of the like data is comparatively minuscule
- You can navigate to the Likes page on Twitter and Tumblr
- Likes seem to be minuscule in size across social media so perhaps storing them isn’t really an issue
*I definitely should have cited my sources here and failed to do so.
Holding onto these likes (and bookmarks and saves, etc.) makes me feel like a hoarder, without a plan or purpose for these posts. They’re collecting dust in the digital closets of my social media accounts, and as much as I want to believe I could return to them some day, I don’t see that happening any time soon.
As of writing, I have liked approximately 95,400 tweets on Twitter, 52,524 Instagram posts, and 18,888 Tumblr posts. Additionally, as Twitter and Instagram have secondary post-collecting features, it’s worth noting that I’ve saved 4385 posts on Instagram and I can’t tell how many tweets I’ve bookmarked on Twitter (if anyone knows of a way to get this information, please tell me!). I don’t currently know if there’s a way to tally up the number of posts I’ve liked on Facebook, but if I had to guess I imagine it would be a number in at least the 4-digit range.
But I don’t intend to stop. And I don’t intend to delete any of these accounts. It would probably be an amazing feeling, to release the burden of the digital debris I’ve collected over the years, but there’s a strong voice in my head telling me that I should keep these accounts as archives of who I’ve been. I’m not a doomsdayer, but technology evolves at a breakneck speed and I feel compelled to hold onto my tiny slice of internet data I’ve generated over the years.
Does this make me a digital hoarder? I’m not sure. How many posts have you liked on any of your social media accounts? I’m curious if my numbers are average or excessive. I’d also love to know what you think about the data you’ve accumulated as a 21st-century media user – what are the types of posts you like or save the most? For me, it’s probably a mix of text posts about astrology, politics, and my favorite music, shows, and films, and photo posts of fashion, wellness, and food prep content.
I’m not sure how to wrap up this specific post, but I know I’ll have more to say on the topic of social media; I’ve used it for over half of my life. Watch this space!
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