by samMost blogs, online newspapers, and even a growing number of product pages on eCommerce sites have social sharing buttons to encourage visitors to promote that content on various social media platforms. You’re given the option to Tweet it, Like it, Pin it, Re-blog it… but what’s the true nature of that number?
Regarding Facebook, the Like number has several implications you may not have been aware of. ‘Like’ has become synonymous with Facebook, elbowing its way into modern popular culture. But the Like button on social share buttons isn’t just composed of people who have clicked ‘Like’ on the article, or content. In actuality, this number is based on statistics from an amalgamation of actions on Facebook.
The Facebook Developers page lists the following as contributing factors to the Like number on share buttons:
- The number of likes of this URL
- The number of shares of this URL (this includes copying/pasting a link back to Facebook)
- The number of likes and comments on stories on Facebook about this URL
- The number of inbox messages containing this URL as an attachment.
For content-sharers and those involved in Facebook marketing, this seems like good news. Every time someone shares the URL, whether through status or a private message, it’s accounted for and included in the overall Facebook Like statistic. In essence, when a person shares that link, they are (anonymously) endorsing that content.
But think about it more closely, and there are two main concerns with this:
Privacy
Facebook ensures us that no private information is exchanged when a user shares content and no privacy settings are altered. Facebook does not automatically Like pages related to the share endorsement, or anything of that nature. These likes affect only the numbers on the social button, NOT the likes or fan count on Facebook pages.
Share = Like?
When you share a link with someone, whether publically on Facebook or privately via Facebook Chat, does that necessarily mean you ‘like’ it? It all falls to the value of ‘Like’. As mentioned before, the nature of the word is so ingrained with Facebook’s brand that its meaning has, in a way, transcended its original intent. To actually ‘like’ something is to endorse it, to enjoy it in some way. But a share might come as a result of NOT liking a product or article. You could be sharing a product and saying, “Look how much this sucks!” But that product’s social button counts you among its likes. Perhaps if this word were changed to ‘Talking about’, then it would give a more accurate impression of the number of people interacting with the content without suggesting that you, in some way, endorse the content.