July 2019

But maybe you thought June was too easy. We have a doozy of a challenge for July:

Try A Month Without...Likes!

Yes, we’re going to try a month without likes, loves, hahas, wows, sads, and angrys. And ANY OTHER canned response we’re being trained to provide. Don’t worry - Big Social Media can live without your processed/compressed/formulated data for a month. I promise.

Why are we trying this? Imagine if you walked around every day reacting to other humans and situations only with these phrases:

I like this.
I love this.
This makes me angry.
This makes me sad.
This makes me laugh.
This make me say wow.

You'd probably be mistaken for a robot, and it definitely wouldn't be sufficient for real communication. 

So let's bring some of our genuine humanity over to our social media platforms. Instead of giving a canned reaction, take the time to use your words and leave a comment. 

"But I love the emojis! They are so cute!", you say. 

I’ll tell you what - if it’s too hard to completely give up likes, only like things that you’re also willing to comment on. The point isn't to strip all the fun away, it's to bring back the thoughtfulness.

I've been thinking a lot about this recently. And here are some of the questions we may want to ponder as we consider how we communicate online:

- What thoughts and emotions are we discarding when we compress our reactions down to someone else’s emoji options?

- Do social media companies benefit from consumers choosing from their 6 approved reactions? How?

- Are news publications writing stories with the sole intention of eliciting likes? 

- Where's the button for - “That person is having a rough day.” or “I can see both sides.” or “Let’s all take a deep breath.”?

Ok, so are you ready to try a month without likes? Sign up now.