Recently a friend sent me an article where a 19 year old gave their opinions on the social networks of today. It was an interesting read and there were claims that Facebook is already dead (we aren’t there yet) and Twitter is useless (that really depends). It reminded me of a thought I had a while back of which I vocalised as “a social network implosion coming”.

That thought came when I scrolled through my Facebook and saw these viral videos, photos and stories being shared by my peers. These empty likes and shares that felt so automatic. The notion of ‘here today gone tomorrow’ is at its peak in social media. But I’m not talking about the content here, viral media is named aptly, it spreads quickly and lingers for (just) long enough. No I’m talking about the likes we give and receive on these pieces of media.

It’s a strange feeling once you wake up to the process of a social network. Take Facebook, where it is hoping to make use of your nostalgic feelings and sell ads based on them. They want you to post up your photos, videos, events, tag people etc. but no one is using Facebook as an archive of their memories for themselves, it is all posted for the intention of likes. That homemade cake in your local cafe? That’s just ripe for an Instagram share to Facebook for likes. But why? Why can’t we just have that photo for ourselves or share it to friends via messenger? It’s because we know the reply would mostly be “ermm thanks” whereas on Facebook there is a casual’ness to all this media sharing.
But what is the value of a like? And I don’t mean to an advertiser (I’m not going to start on that here). I mean what does a like mean to people like you and me.

I’ve noticed the most popular thing you can do on Facebook is to get engaged. A lot of friends and friends of friends have been doing so recently and posting their happy photos (fair play, I am genuinely glad for them) and to my closest friends I have congratulated them in person or via text. But even I still find myself liking these posts instantly without any thought. Not as if I’m hoping they spot my contribution, more of a complete automatic response. It’s programmed into us now. These posts rack up likes to the hundreds. Are they all genuine? Yes I’m sure they are. Is there thought behind doing it? No. It is automatic and the next day that like means nothing. What means something is that congrats on the phone, the engagement party, the helping with the planning etc.

People will still argue they love seeing their content getting liked as it means people are enjoying their photos, videos or that witty comment. But the like on Facebook has become more of an acknowledgement from people of “yep saw that, moving on” it is the new LoL. Nobody actually laughs out loud while reading the Internet and the majority of the time they’re in work scrolling these posts where a vocal laugh would give the game away. It is quite simply the most nondescript thing on the Internet which is ironic considering its naming. There is a reason why Facebook don’t want to add a dislike button and it is because people would click the thing to death.

So why a social network implosion? I think in the next few years more people will think about Facebook and say “what is the value in me liking this post? I think I’ll just messenger my friend with an actual opinion instead”.
Once people stop using the social networks the way the companies who run them want them to then things will change. Facebook would have to start rethinking how it enables communication because people might just wake up and want to communicate more directly with each other in qualitative ways.