Skip to main content

The Antisociality of Social Media Part 7: A Like By Any Other Name


"Liking" redirects here. For the psychological concept, see reciprocal liking.--Wikipedia


A funny thing happened while strolling through the cybersphere today. An email notification from LinkedIn appeared in my inbox informing me that one of my connections endorsed me for five skills. This isn't so atypical. I can honestly say that I am adept at each of the skills for which I was endorsed. The problem is that I have no idea how this particular person could say with any confidence that I am adept at each of the skills for which I was endorsed. The fact is that I simply cannot remember how I met this connection.



Was this a connection of a connection? Was it through one of those business-card-swaporamas otherwise known as a networking event? I'm sure this was a colleague of so-and-so. No. That can't be it. Grrrrrr. Where did I meet this person? Does this endorsement carry any real weight?

Never mind. I just wasted far too much brain energy trying to figure that out. The thing that really impressed me was that LinkedIn has inserted another form of the "like" into our repertoire of likes. With so much liking going on nowadays, I fear, dear reader, that our liking will become diluted to the point of being deluded. Even worse, overuse of the like will turn us into virtual valley girls, which could change the meaning of like altogether. Even-even worse, the like will you know, like, fail to have any meaning whatsoever.

There's only one thing we can do to save the like--time for some synonyms.


The "like" synonome as diagrammed by visualthesaurus.com
It used to be customary to dive into the Roget's Thesaurus when in need of a synonym. Those days are gone now that we have the Google. Keying in "like" for the search term will generate over 11 billion--yes, that's with a "b"--hits, with the top return taking you to this page explaining "Built-in Like action." Perhaps it is the fact that I am writing this at 2:30 in the morning, but that just sounds so likable in a you-shouldn't-be-liking-that sort of way.

But I digress. Again.

Anywho, the next few hits are your typical dictionary fare. Surprisingly, there is a Wikipedia page for like--the Wikilike? Oh, Wiki likey the like. For added squirrel bonus, hit the "Talk" tab on the Wiki-like page. You won't dislike it.

While Wiki is useful and all, you might be inclined to go straight to the 3rd or 4th hits, to the likes of thesaurus.com and merriam-webster.com, where you can meander through all sorts of likes and words like like. You will likely come across a link for the online tool visualthesaurus.com, much like what is represented in the figure above. While that tool is wicked cool and very, very, very likable, it kicks you out after a few spins around the block and requests that you register. Thanks, but no thanks. I like my likes for free.

It does give a great graphical and interactive overview of related terms, though. The synonyms linked to like in the figure are pretty vanilla. Love is a stretch, since that implies liking beyond liking-liking. The word that got my head scratching was cotton. Huh? I cotton that? Well, yes, apparently, "cotton to" is synonymous with "compatible" or, in our case "like." Wow. The stuff you learn at 2:30 in the morning.

I would recommend, dear reader, that you save yourselves some disapproving glances, and take a safe stroll through the more common, but a tad bit more fancy, synonyms for like as noted here: http://thesaurus.com/browse/like. Please bear with me while I sojourn on variations of like. You might find me affirming, or acclaiming, or fancying, or favoring, or idolizing, or revering, venerating or even worshiping, that which I find likable. In turn, I challenge you to find the like that you can cling to, dote on, embrace, foster, honor, value...oh cripes, just like it!







Popular posts from this blog

The Antisociality of Social Media (Part 1)...Who Are We? How Did We Get Here?

(Response forthcoming in part two) I'm bad with names. I can remember a face no problem. But names are automatically sent to an unlockable vault deep within the cortex of my brain. I don't know if it is my short term memory that is a problem or long term. I have forgotten names of people I have just met while they are finishing their "Hi, I'm so and so. Nice to meet you." You had me at Hi and lost me by "I'm so and so." Likewise, I also can't remember the names of people I grew up with. I dread going out and about in my hometown for fear that I will run into someone who is purportedly my BFF from 1986 and I just don't remember his or her name to save my life. I'm partial to the Elaine Benes idea that we should all wear name tags. (For those not familiar with Seinfeld, Google it.) Now, one might be inclined to suggest that I see a neurologist to have a thorough hippocampus evaluation. But I'm not so sure the problem is c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Overpopulaton of Punctuation Marks Threatens Message Extinction

[Because this bears repeating in such desperate times] Scientists report that a recent rise in the overuse of punctuation marks will ultimately lead to the demise of the common message. It is not known if the increasing trend of ending a sentence with multiple and in some cases, mixed, punctuation marks is the result of the natural evolution of messaging, or if human actions are speeding the process. What is clear, though, is that punctuation marks and messages are not taking their impending doom lying down. In a rare twist of bipartisanship, punctuation marks and messages came together to call for measures to halt the message crisis and return our civilization back to the days of making points in a clear, concise manner. Speaking for the punctuators, Exclamation point stated, "I'm a loner. You don't need two of me. The whole purpose of my existence is to accentuate a  point. I thought I was doing that just fine already." Mr. Question Mark had this to...
Read more

Planning for Parenthood Involves Maintaining Your Health. Or, Why I Support Planned Parenthood

Given that I don't have kids, the title of this post may seem a bit odd. What do I know about planning for parenthood, right? I don't have much room to talk, right? Sure, I might not be one of the lucky ones who enjoys the joys of little bundles of joy, but I'm going to ask you to cut me a little slack before you judge. After all, at the age of nineteen, when I first moved away from home to prepare for a career in Radiography, I did not know I would be childless many moons later.
Read more