Everyone likes to be liked. That is true in real life and it is true on social media as well. When you see someone like what you have done on social media, be it on your personal account or on your business account, it gives you a little bit of a rush just the same as it does when more people start following you. It is a confirmation that what you created has been viewed and accepted. That little bit of dopamine feels good and you want more of it. It is addicting after all. That has led to many people chasing or purchasing likes and followers on social media. So, is that worth it?
Likes = Popularity
Many people have been chasing likes on social media for years. It was a way to gauge popularity, to get more people to see your content and hopefully a way to get more people to engage with that content. The more people that engaged with the content meant more people seeing it that were outside of those who liked your page. In the end that would hopefully bring in more business to you.
The metrics of this have changed over the years even to the detriment of organic reach, that is the people who would see your posts in their news feed. Couple that with more content on that news feed and there is extreme competition for eyeballs in that space. That move has been deliberate as platforms like Facebook are trying to push people to purchase ad space increasing the revenue of that company.
Likes = Interaction
The like was also meant to build somewhat of a community around your page. It originally meant that only people who liked a page could interact on it with comments on a post. That has also changed. Users no longer need to like a page to interact on it. On platforms like Facebook the like does not have the power that it used to.
Likes Are Not Unique To Facebook
Of course Facebook is not the only platform that uses likes. It’s sister site Instagram does as well and that platform may have exceeded Facebook as the dominant social media platform for businesses and everyone else. On this platform the more likes you can get the better as it will expose your content to a wider audience. The more likes you have, the more credibility that you have and the easier it is to build a brand image up which can be done in less time. It’s kind of like a cheat code for social media.
To help this it is possible to buy likes on Instagram. Numerous services allow you to purchase likes on Instagram to gain more engagement. To get your content in front of new eyeballs this can be a good value but there is of course a catch as many of the accounts that are liking you or following you are fake accounts. Instagram will on occasion purge these accounts and your follower count will drop though these services promise to add new likes to you after that happens. Organic is always better.
Twitter Too
Fake followers are not something unique to Instagram. Twitter is full of fake profiles that can actually hurt your account more than help it if they follow you. Fake followers give you skewed analytics which can hinder legitimate growth on the platform since it can increase a person’s leverage, defraud businesses and ruin reputations. Purchasing followers is against Twitter’s terms of service but that has not stopped the practice.
It is possible to audit an account and block fake users. Some of these tools are cheap or can be used for free. If you have a lot of followers that may be something that you want to consider as going through each profile may not be practical.
Likes Are Not The End All Be All
Chasing likes on social media can also hurt you. Businesses that are focused on simply getting more likes and followers may be wasting their time. Likes do not automatically mean people will actually visit a brand’s social media page much less do business with that person. It can also stifle what you are doing since you are more focused on being liked and less on being creative. In the end being yourself might not be a quick path to the top but it might be the best for you. The tortoise did beat the hare in Aesop’s fable after all.
On social media you want to be an expert or an influencer. That gets more people viewing your content and hopefully more business for you. That is a good thing, but how can you get more people following you? It always helps to be popular but yet, this is not the school yard where you had to rise to the top organically.
No, on social media you can buy influence but that is generally frowned upon and on the platforms that do allow it, they are one algorithm change away from discouraging it. Remember, the companies that bring the followers are not giving any money to the platform so platforms like Instagram have no vested interest in continuing the practice. Facebook has already changed their algorithms to encourage users to pay them instead and it may be a matter of time until that is standard across the board. There might just be too much money involved to prevent it.
So don’t chase likes, do what you have always done and let your work speak for itself.