The lack of likes here is growing on me

[estrogenandspite]

So initially I was not thrilled that Dreamwidth lacked some kind of like feature, but the more I think about it, the more I enjoy it.

Liking for me can become very mindless. "Yes, I saw this thing, and generally wish to show support in a vague way." It was borderline meaningless.

But here you have to comment, and I think that's good, actually. I got a comment from someone the other day that was just a heart emoji, and that felt more meaningful to me than the vast majority of likes I've ever gotten, even though it shares the same underlying meaning.

It's about the slight bit of effort put in. 

This might change over time if it starts to feel like I'm screaming into the void and no one's here to listen, but as long as comments are a thing I think I'll like this way of not having likes. 

Comments

[reliarobot]

I think I'm gonna miss the dozen or so faces I'd see liking my posts. Just having that little acknowledgment that somebody saw it was really nice. Right now I do kind of feel like I'm just throwing things into a void...

[estrogenandspite]

Yeah, that is a thing I'm going to miss too. I'm going to be trying to be active in replies to help offset that when I can because like, I wanna actually talk to people more.

[reliarobot]

I guess that's really going to be the trick, isn't it? Maybe it'll be for the best

[softwareangel]

never under estimate the power of a comment!! that's why im gonna try commenting on peoples posts as much as possible so they feel seen! i too miss the like feature, but like you said, even something simple as a heart emoji can really make the difference!

[estrogenandspite]

Absolutely same here. Like commenting a heart emoji to serve as a like is probably going to be my "I have nothing to say or am low on spoons but want you to know I saw this" default.

[softwareangel]

right?? same. also its just the thought of "oh im going to stop and open a text box and wait just a couple more minutes to send you that little heart" SEEMS like its funny but in the modern day and conditioning of how folks use their time online it really means a lot!

[beige_alert]

Historically I've often felt like I'm posting into the void.
Although when I think of it, back in the day Livejournal and then after that underwent its death Facebook, where everyone I was in contact with on LJ moved at the time, is where I get a lot of actual comments in addition to the likes. It's Facebook (ugh) where the people I've actually met in person, maybe spent a lot of time with in person, hugged in person, are at. All the other sites have been nearly entirely people I've never seen in person and that's a difference.

[estrogenandspite]

Yeah, I think the in person/purely online divide absolutely plays a factor too.

[darkwitchclaire]

i find that most of my comments on creative works are along the lines of "this is really good :3"

[bootjack]

i swear the lack of likes on here is what made the fucking dam break in my brain because dangit how am i supposed to tell someone their post was good now??? i gotta comment? ...it's not a bad problem to have! commenting is a skill that has really fallen off the internet in general due to how modern social media is structured since it's easier to just press a button and keep scrolling, but now you gotta stop and think and have something to say and remember that you're talking to a human (or yinglet, or creature) and not just mindlessly ~engaging with content~

i dunno, i really like that aspect personally. there's a reason i put the lack of likes down as 'not necessarily a bad thing' on my post. i just hope the posting/commenting momentum keeps going!

[qim]

i was originally annoyed by cohost's lack of comment reacts, because when a conversation is "done" i like to leave a reaction to show that i have read and acknowledged their closing statement

but i got used to it and would just leave the reactions as replies instead, not enough time passed for me to figure out what kind of "netiquette" i was going to settle on but i realize that clearly defined reactions (whether just "like" or a whole list of emojis) also inherently limit communication

like, if instagram did not have reactions to DMs, would my friends and i be more inclined to talk rather than just send images and reels to each other constantly? we use Signal and Discord for talking mostly anyway, but i think it would drastically change the niche that instagram fills

the higher barrier to entry might mean less engagement overall but hopefully more substantial? time will tell!