In this age of rapidly evolving technology, social media platforms are now tailored to meet a particular need,therefore a lot of differences appear within each one. There is a certain trait however which happens to cut a cross board, and that is the ability to like a person's post, picture, comment, link or any other sharable data.
From Facebook to instagram, BBM and even our beloved nairaland, the advent of liking a post isn't new. What is baffling however, is the importance and sentiments we attach to these likes. Here on nairaland, we see people everyday soliciting for likes and shares as if it could be exchanged for a sum later on.
I believe, the purpose of the 'like' (or unlike) button is for people to agree (or disagree) with whatever it is you posted. When we begin to solicit for likes, it begins to look like emotional corruption.
For one, I believe this shows the downside to technological advancement, people now think they can substitute face to face relationships with online ones and having a large number of 'LIKES'means you have plenty of friends or admirers which is most times false.
Also, it also shows the deep lack of self esteem many of us have. At the risk of sounding rude, many people see the likes as a sort of acceptance to society, anything to boost my ego. This is why many people solicit so much for it and feel so happy and on top of the world so much when they do.
Third and finally, connected to the second reason, is the fact that (much like the Jumoke story, which has already been over flogged), everybody wants to be famous. We want to be in the spotlight and getting likes gives us the false sense of hope that we have arrived and at the centre of attention.
I belive that we should go back to treating the 'likes' as it was originally intended and stop behaving like our lives depended on it, especially on nairaland where the larger percentage don't put their pictures and we don't know who is behind it and your total likes are hidden from the view of others (I stand to be corrected).

PS.

I know the likes issue is a worldwide phenomenon and these apps were not created for Nigerians alone. But even worldwide, most people you see who garner for likes are people with either low self worth or who don't have anything of worth to give e.g. The kardashian/Jenner clan.


I hope I made sense, this is just my two cents.

It's basic human psychology. People demand validation for everything they do, and 'likes' provide this validation.