Liking something is good, there are lots of nice things in the world to like. I like the sound of the rain, I like to watch sports, I like to spend my Sunday's not sat behind a computer. But apparently it is not enough to just 'like' something these days. You see, 'like' is now no longer just an adjective but rather it is a full blown verb. No longer do you simply like something, but it is an action, and it is an action that hordes of companies, big and small are clambering over each other to get me to do.
Yes, the quicker amongst you will have already second guessed me, I am of course talking about Facebook! Yay, Facebook, that place where nothing and everything happens all at once. The website that you log onto as often as possible to check up on what your friends and enemies are up to, or not up to as the case may be, because they too are on Facebook, getting not up to lots of things.
This blog post is a result of three things. One; my growing frustration at being railroaded into 'liking' left, right and center, two; having a nagging skepticism about the effectiveness of this so-called marketing method and three; my interest in the psychology that could potentially lie behind this phenomenon. So, whilst reading this, please prepare to get your best clicking finger ready, because there is a big, juicy like button at the bottom waiting for you.
Don't Like It
So there I am, just wandering the corridors of Facebook, looking at pictures of my mate's latest holiday, checking out what my Sister has been up to and chuckling at my less-close friend's apparent inability to spell cheese. Yes, it is just another day on Facebook. But then, boom, what's this, a page that sticks out like a sore-thumb that has a Starbucks logo on it and a massive arrow telling me to 'like' their page. Shocked is not the word to describe the change in my usually calm exterior. With moments feeling like hours, my mouse hand takes over the wheel and my curiosity gets the better of me. 'Paul Wood now likes Starbucks'. Fantastic, now everyone knows my coffee drinking habits, I wouldn't mind but they aren't even my coffee drinking habits, even when I lived near a Starbucks I very rarely went there, and yet, somehow I have ended up liking the blasted place. What a sorry state of affairs I am sure you will agree.
This is where my gripe begins. It is not that I don't like Starbucks, far from it, I quite enjoyed the experience the handful of times I have been there, but I certainly wouldn't single it out as one of the only places I exclusively 'like'. You wont catch me running down the street telling people I vaguely recognise from school that I like Starbucks...and even if I was to do that, there is plenty more stuff I would tell them I like before I got to Starbucks, and to be honest I don't think my lungs would hold out long enough to get that far down my list of things I like.
So, with that outlining the crux of my philosophy, I have always been a bit grumpy towards the Facebook 'like' thing, in the same way that I don't read my star sign and prefer not to have a lucky pair of socks.
I Like the Media
So, working in the media industry in a number of capacities over the past few years the subject of Facebook, 'likes' and social media in general has reared its head and at every crossroad I have expressed my general interest and mutual respect, but crept past without stirring the beast too much. This is not because I am, as you gurus will refer to me as, a 'social media skeptic' but at the same time you wont catch me chasing the owner of an auditing company shouting 'social media or nothing' at them. I think social media is here, and it matters but I don't think it is the wooden stake to kill the marketing vampire.
So, it is with strange pleasure that I find myself with something that perhaps justifies all of those 'likes'. A result of my hobby of reading about psychology I found myself reading the rather fantastic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. It is a book about how to get people to do things and all of the little tricks and quirks of the human mind that marketeers make use of to get people to buy from them.
I Like Social Proof
The book is split into a number of different chapters with each covering one psychological quirk of the mind that can be exploited by marketeers to get you to complete a desired action. It is there that Cialdini writes about 'social proof'. Social proof (please excuse my failure to write this as well as Mr Cialdini) is the idea that people, will make decisions based on what others do. Say for example you are looking for a restaurant and there are two options available. One option has a lot of people inside, the other is empty. Unsure of your ability to choose where to dine you use social proof to justify that option one is the one to go for: if it is good enough for all of these people it is good enough for me.
This is an idea that can immediately be applied to the Facebook 'likes'. The more people you see 'liking' something, the more chance you will follow the herd and feel safe in joining them. But wait, rather cleverly, the Facebook like phenomena employs another, more intriguing level of psychology, also outlined in the previously mentioned book.
I Like Commitment
The psychology of commitment is for me the biggest indicator of why a business would want someone to 'like' them on Facebook. The idea here is that once someone makes a commitment to a certain situation, person or company, no matter how big or small, they will have a nagging urge to oblige with the rest of the commitment. It is a simple idea and one which surprisingly few people have the ability to resist.
An example that Cialdini outlines in his book is that of the common garden door to door salesperson. In a psychological experiment (and I really am para-phrasing here!) a group of door to door sales people were sent out. They were all tasked with the mission to get homeowners to place a whacking great board in their front garden with a message about something (I forget now!) on it. The point here is that it certainly wasn't the most mouth-watering of proposals.
One group of door to door salespeople simply had to ask the question, but the other group were instructed to begin their negotiations with a simple question: "How are you today?". The findings were startling, the people who were asked and answered the starter question were much more likely to agree to the salesperson's request. Here comes the psychology. By answering the salesperson's initial question, regardless of answer, the homeowner has committed to an engagement with the salesperson. Once a commitment has been made a person will find it incredibly hard to back out of.
Commitment and Likes
So, back to the Facebook 'likes'. I believe that when a person clicks on the 'like' button they are making a commitment. Cialdini outlines that when a commitment is made in public, it's effects are only enhanced, so a 'like' on Facebook is a public commitment. With the simple action of hitting 'like' and allowing your 'like' to be published in a Facebook feed you are unwittingly committing to a company or cause and then requests made after this will be much more likely to have an effect on you.
This is why I believe that so many companies want you to 'like' them and why I would now encourage companies to actively engage in it. Sadly, I for one wont be popping over to the nearest Starbucks for a caffeine powered pick-me-up however, because I have resolve, or something like that, but remember, always be careful what you 'like', you might get more than you bargained for.
By the way, 'like' this blog post, I wont make you commit to anything, I just want to impress my bosses, that can't do any harm can it?
Added 31/03/11:
Just a couple of days after writing this and Google have announced +1 (Plus One), which is essentially a 'like' button for Google's search results, as well as for websites. Certainly one to watch, I think that Google's new tool will only enhance the effects I have described. Make sure you +1 this post when you get the chance as well! I will be writing more about Google +1 soon.
