Now I do enjoy using Facebook for sharing funny moments and even a picture or two. And I have come to be generous with the like button as I compare it to a casual smile. But there is a line that the like button can cross. It can easily be used to feed into our sinful tendency to compare ourselves with others. How many people like what I just said? We begin to calculate the value of what we say by the number of likes we receive, rather than the actual content. I don’t go around counting how many smiles I’ve received in my day.

I have a fourteen-year-old daughter with a cell phone. I remember back in the day, I would get in trouble for talking too long on my see-through, wired, Conair Phone. But now I join all the other parents navigating through unchartered territory when it comes to their child and social networking. These days, phones are barely used for talking. Calling seems to be a last resort for my daughter, who prefers to text, take pictures, cruise social media, and hit the like button. I could write about my struggles in choosing which sites I let my kids join and which I don’t, but I want to discuss the culture of like that we live in even as adults.

Much of this post is pulled from an article I wrote two and a half years ago on Housewife Theologian. I returned to it when I discovered the power of the like button for teens. Did you know that it’s actually quite common for teens to remove their photo or comment if they do not get a desired number of likes? I wonder what that magic number is, and I wonder if this phenomenon is exercised by adults as well.

I finally broke down and joined Facebook at the same time I started my blog. It seemed pretty necessary for sharing my articles with friends and hoping they would share with their friends. Also, the whole like button was such a mystery to me, but seemingly an important element for bloggers. After all my curious investigating and weighing the different like options to incorporate on my site, I’ve decided I have mixed feelings about the like button. It can be very tacky. I’ll tell you why.

When it comes to reading an article, I think the like button is an inadequate response. What if the like button was used in actual conversation? How offensive would that be? After a friend or acquaintance shares about their weekend, bar fight, or actual deep thought, the popularity police decide whether they will cast their vote. Is this what social interaction has come to? You don’t have to comment on the truth or value of what is said, just say like. And of course there’s no dislike button, because that would be pernicious. All I’m saying is that just because it’s a positive word, it doesn’t really make it a positive action.

Read More