The "Likes" thing

Salam,

All praise be to Allah SWT for inspiring me to write this piece of mind.

This is a work of fiction.

yeah. about likes.... as in 'likes' in socmed.

can only speak for myself and probably people like me in a manner of thinking...

i like for very very different reasons.

sometimes i 'like' because i want that person to like that i 'like'.. maybe to a point that everything he/she puts there i 'like'. so let's say that person puts up 20 posts... no matter how silly that post can be, I 'like'

some people actually cares how much likes they're getting for number of reasons... 

acknowledgement

acceptance

friendliness

and all sorts of other things and that list is in-exhaustive. 

So.. this person who likes that i 'like' .... let's call this person X. Some day X posts something really nice and X gets like 50 likes... much more than X's 10 to 15 'likes' every time X posts. Out of that 15, 7 will be from X's family, 4 close friends and 4 would be X's co-workers... People who X knows in real life.

Well, if that matters to X, never mind lah.. but what would X feel if there's also a stranger who 'like' X's post... Hmm... people outside my circle in real life likes whatever it is I post here...? Must be something that caught his/her attention... Hmmm okay... so it's back to normal until X gets another 'like'.. from the same person. 

Hmmm okay but after a dozen of Hmmmm okays... X will "I donno.... ", curious? wondering perhaps as to why anything X posts will get that one like from people who doesn't know X in real life..

This 50-likes post X posted do not have my 'like'. Will X be wondering... why?

So X casually walk the walk and talk the talk until the end of the day X notices that it has become 51. X might tap a little only to find that extra one is not me. 

I'm not saying that everyone is like that... but I believe there is that potential in everyone who is on social media. Have you every wondered.. why people go to socmed? Having a smartphone with a Google account or iOS will pull more and more people into becoming the citizen of social media...

And once they're there are they going to remain a mere spectator? C'mon.... the general folk like you and I wants attention sometimes especially from total strangers...people you have never seen their faces... only their photos in their profiles...because you and me are the creatures of wonder... and you just follow people.. sometimes you see the post of someone that you always don't like but there's that one particular post by that person that you 'like'.. just because there're many others who like it so, hey... it's just a click or a tap... it's not that I'll be forking out a dollar or so..?

I believe I'm not the only one who thinks and feels that way and be sane enough to write this....

So, X may be wondering.... I mean to X, X would be thinking that is that person okay? this post went up yesterday and 51 likes, that's... great..  but that person.. no 'likes' from that person. 

Why not? Something wrong perhaps? I mean this person likes everything I posted..but this is my best post like EVER... coz I get 51 'likes' but perhaps you don't like it... 

Why? that post reminds you of something awful in your life.. so awful that you just don't feel like tapping the 'like' icon...

What if something happened to your phone? Lost? Stolen? Forget to charge that device and it goes dead while you're sleeping???

Aaah... you're just busy hey, whatever lah.... (51.. 51.. fifty one... 36 of the people I don't even know... total strangers, wow... ) but not you. 

Hmmm...

So X gets CREATIVE, maybe... I donno.... maybe the fundamental of people going into social media lies between the two extremes.... to know and to tell... to read posts only to writing posts all the time without bothering to read other people's post or even worse his own posts...

CREATIVE in the sense.. X puts up another post similar to the one X posted earlier. End of the day while at home after a long day at work, X turns up socmed and saw 48 'likes'... Now that 48 is worth really something, right? 

But no you. 

This is ODD and this is WIERD because this is the second time you do this to me, you you you you...You..!!!

Okay... okay... I'm not saying everyone is like that..there are some who can have that kind of feeling or thought whatever you call it, the same way I do.

Why do I 'like' then?

The post is really good which reminds me of the wonderful things in my life - Alhamdulillah.

The post is inspiring, spiritual and makes me feel to be a better man, in all respects possible - Alhamdulillah.

The post is of sadness but since I don't wanna show off too much... maybe a 'like' will do instead of what I actually feel inside me is 'sad'.. it's not that I don't wanna show you how sad I am but I prefer not to reveal my true feelings for everyone here who cares to see - Alhamdulillah.

Just to 'bodek' (to non-Malaysians, 'bodek' = to flatter) you.. For many reasons. Maybe to get you to like what I post - Masha Allah.

To get more friends... especially strangers who they like to have reading or viewing what ever that they posted (with this I don't mean those socmed business people.. you're there for commercial reasons, even if that seems to be your personal socmed page..) - Alhamdulillah.

Everyone could use an extra friend. A friend doesn't have to be a real life friend. Just online friend, socmed friend..but some of that socmed friend thing becomes evolved...

Until you'd be wondering more about him/her. We like each other's posts and commented a lot with each other to a point we hijacked the poster's post with our discussions and the 'likes' and the 'ha-ha' and the 'love'.. 

Wonder what it would be like to have coffee with that once-insignificant-socmed 'friend'..

Well, some friendships, I mean real life friendships flourishes in that manner.. the way Allah SWT wants it, insha Allah. 

Right? 

I like for many reasons. Because socmed can't afford yet to have a special code to record people's true emotions. Those emotions are represented in very finite codes.. for FB it's like, love, care, ha-ha and angry. So when one wants to be come cool.. 'like' or really like but not to the power of 'love'.. a 'like' shall suffice...

i'm glad that FB put up the 'care' thing, Alhamdulillah. Sometimes I want to express 'care' but 'love' is like.. to much and ah.. there's the in-between... 'Care'. Thank you FB!

Sometimes I am not expressing my truest of emotions. I keep it hidden like how I hide my face behind a laptop screen.

Sometimes it's just out of respect, you know he put up a post about his first grandson and that post has been up there for 5 hours now and no one likes it? Hmm.. poor guy, I'll give him a 'like'...

Now grandpa when seeing the notification that there's only one like..he might be thinking many things...

1. this guy's probably tapped that like icon mistakenly

2. this guy actually like my grandson's picture

3. probably did that out of respect...

He can only guess. but only I know what I feel about that post - which can be an assortment of feelings, emotions, logic, memory, imagination what have you...

It's done primarily out of respect.Some other emotions too but respect prevails, insha Allah.

So... Fact or Fiction, this "Likes" thing?

Thank you for reading. You don't have to tap/click the 'Like' icon. All  I hope for is the care and the time you sincerely took to read this piece of mind, Alhamdulillah. 

Allah SWT knows best.

May we all be guided by Allah SWT, insha Allah. Amin.

Thank you.

Peace,

Wassalam,

FbI