I’ve noticed this happening more frequently. I was sent an email from someone with very happy news. I opened it up and was very happy for her. I reached for my mouse and found myself lost looking for that one button application to say how happy I am for her:
But, of course, it wasn’t there. This is email.
I looked around some more, certain that there must be some function in my email that will tell this person how happy I am for them without having to actually say “I’m so happy for you.”
But there was none to be found.
I clumsily started typing out, what I hope came to be, full sentences showing my acknowledgement of her excitement and my delight for her – all the while wishing that I could have just gone for a simple “Like”. Not because I don’t actually care or that I only “liked” the news. But because that little “like” button has grown to mean more than just the dictionary definition of “like”:
Like: verb (used with object)
- to take pleasure in; find agreeable or congenial
- to regard with favor; have a kindly or friendly feeling for (a person, group, etc.)
It’s really become a much grander idea. I click “like” when people have babies, win awards, get new jobs, fix broken appliances, and are just plain happy with something they’ve accomplished. Not that all of those things are comparable with each other, but “like” is versatile and I feel that when I click it, it encompasses the correct amount of pleasure one should feel with such an announcement as the one posted.
I don’t always just click “like”. I will sometimes extend my liking to the comments and add a word or two if I have something additional to add that would be of use to the poster. I know that if someone just clicks the “like” button on a particularly jovial posting of mine that I don’t take offense.
And now after all this posting of the word “like” it has lost all meaning to me.
Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like
That doesn’t even look like English anymore.
1 comment:
I like this.
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