Likes are the backbone of web2 social media. Often expressed as a heart, they’ve taken on meanings of their own. They’re as much ammo as they are currency—invoking support as much as they do jealousy or a cold shoulder. More recently, a like has come to mean about as much as “lol” entails actual laughter. No one’s really laughing out loud. With so many opportunities to like something (see Kyle Chayka’s Like Inflation), the gesture has pretty much lost its significance altogether. So why do we...
