Like for a Like?

The term ‘exchange’ is often thought about as related to money or physical trades, for example, gift giving and receiving. However, exchange is much more complicated than that, looking at the Week 8 Lecture slide 5, it can be seen that exchange occurs between individuals, societies, and groups of people (Kuttainen, 2019).  Exchange relates to economy and society and the idea of giving and receiving (Lechte, 2003). Not many people would think of social media when thinking of exchange, but it is a common trend throughput social media platforms.

If you’re an avid user of Facebook, you may have seen posts saying something along the lines of “Like for a like?”.  The ‘like for a like’ trend has been making the rounds for a few years now. The concept of this trend is that someone makes a status saying “like for a like” and when other users like the status, the poster will either post on the ‘likers’ wall or comment on the post tagging the ‘liker’ stating something they like about the ‘liker’. While the idea of this trend may seem pointless and unnecessary, it does hold a particular importance to some. This is an example of reciprocal exchange, this occurs when one person gives or does something for another and it is reciprocated by the recipient.

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So what do people actually get from this exchange? The poster of the status is usually seeking to appear popular or the appearance of a higher status to other users. Within the world of Facebook, there is high importance placed on the amount of ‘likes’ a person receives on a post, the more ‘likes’ a person receives on a post, the more ‘popular’ they appear. The ‘liker’ of the status receives a compliment or a positive affirmation, therefore receiving instant gratification.  Instant gratification is the immediate attainment of satisfaction and happiness, Millennials and Gen Z are the generations most likely to seek this immediate need for satisfaction, this is because we live in a time where modern technology and devices are at the ready to meet any of our deeds.

Although money and physical trades aren’t involved, there is a certain risk to this exchange. There is no way to measure exactly the exchange rate between the ‘liking’ of a status and the ‘like’ that is received in return. The idea is that the compliment that is received should be unique to the person who ‘liked’ the status, meaning that everyone who ‘liked’ the status should receive a different compliment to the last. So no compliment is the same as the last, all having a greater or lesser significance each time.

Of course we know that this type of exchange is seemingly insignificant in the real world, it is possible it could be having hidden impacts on the next generation.

References

Kuttainen, V. (2019). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Lecture 8: Exchange. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Lechte, J. (2003). Exchange. Key contemporary concepts. Retrieved from https://elibrary.jcu.edu.au/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sageukcc/exchange/0?institutionId=429

Next! Ad Agency. (n.d.). Facebook Like Image [Image]. Retrieved from

https://nextadagency.com/how-to-increase-a-business-facebook-pages-likes/