Over on Micro.blog (where I almost went instead of Write.as, and still might someday, depending on the comparative development trajectories), Walter Tyree wondered about the lack of “likes” over there, and asked about getting some sort of quick-reply emoji action to say, “I saw your post, it made me feel some feelings that were positive”.
The ensuing discussion is a decent microcosm ofparallel to the conversation I’ve been having here a lot about the current state of social media, which is what I more or less said in the thread.
Much of my own thinking about this over the last several months has been around the idea that current social media is too frictionless, and so too weightless. Likes and retweets are indications, not interactions, and provide no context for the action. I’m mostly pretty on board with the idea that first social media should do away with the public countsof retweets and likes, and then get rid of them altogether. In their place, or at least in the place of likes, create something more akin to highlights on Medium, which at least communicate the context of what drew your attention.
With each new instance of this discussion, I become more and more convinced that new approaches to social media need to slow things down. Code, as Lawrence Lessig says), is law, and if the laws are written in a way which encourages and incentivizes indication over interaction that’s how most people will use the platform.
Also of note from that thread: Matthew Gregg references Write.as’ own Matt Baer and his thoughts on “likes” (or “favorites”) as “inexpensive and vague when it’s a public signal”.