What is the value of your like?

What is the value of your “Like”? 

LinkedIn, like many other social media platforms provides an option for people to share and like content. They call this “Social Currency” because it has value. What’s different about this platform, is that it emphasizes when one of your connections likes or comments on a post, essentially allowing the content with the most impressions to “rise to the top” of your feed.

As I refresh my feed now, here are the order of items displayed.

1.     A 1st connection commenting on another 1st connection’s post (an article by a 3rd party). 

2.     An advertisement who’s company is followed by a 1st connection.

3.     A post of a 3rd party article by a 1st connection liked by another 1st connection. 

4.     One of those wacky viral car videos by a 2nd connection commented on by a 1st.

5.     A post of a puppy climbing a wall by a 1st connection, shared by a 2nd connection, and liked by a 1st connection.

6.     And finally an original post by a 1st connection sharing their company’s job posting.

7.     + After that comes more of the original content that is not yet shared/liked/commented on.  This is the stuff waiting to be viewed.

So what does this all mean? Well, this means that in order for your post to be viewed sooner than later, it must have interaction. Someone has to like or comment on it for it to be pushed to the top. But not just any interaction is useful. What if your post is liked by a connection with 30 connections? That may not help you much, or maybe it’s commented on by a person with 20,000 connections, creating a massive chain of interactions.

A few takeaways: Your connections will absolutely see what you interact with. And they may choose to also interact with it and so on, and so forth. This benefits the original poster as it increases eyes on their content, therefore adding a “value” to your action. The effect of this might be one of your connections sees a job posting that they may be interested in applying for. They apply, get the job, and improve their quality of life. Indirectly, you changed someone’s life for the better just by clicking on a thumb. 

It may sound crazy at first, but give it some deep thought and think about the potential outcomes; they’re endless.

You share a Business Journal post about a local gathering for startups. One of your connections sees that post and likes it. One of their connections sees that they liked it and attends the event where they meet a potential business partner that will guide the marketing strategy of a cutting edge new product or service. This development of this product or service creates hundreds if not thousands of jobs, impacting millions if not billions of lives around the world and changing the outcome of civilization as we know it, all because you clicked a button. 

What is the value of your “Like”?