Weight of Likes

— Project Overview

“Weight of Likes” is an experimental design that focuses on helping to evoke consciousness in individuals whenever they press the like button on social media. This project started from my curiosity into what would happen if I turn a digital “like” into something more than a single passive click or a double tap on the screen. To achieve this effect, I recontextualized the process of liking into an active, conscious activity by physicalizing the digital “like” to make users actually participate in their thought process before liking something on social media.

— Problem

How can I make people be more conscious and intentional on a digital “like”?

A “like” on social media is a form of communication that allows us to signal our validation and approval of the content with a single click, without having to type any comments or reasons. Because pressing a like button is so quick and easy, people do not think much when they like posts. Sometimes, I find my brother in his bed scrolling through his feed and mindlessly liking every post that appears on his screen. Yet, a like has so much more meaning. The number of likes a person receives on social media strongly influences one’s self-esteem and confidence. Through this project, I wanted to recontextualize and slow down the process of liking to help people be more conscious and intentional with their likes.

— Research Synthesis

Interviewing about likes on social media

In the beginning, with these questions in mind, I interviewed my peers and people in my age group who use social media often. I asked about their opinion on the culture of likes and what they value most on social media in order to understand different perspectives on likes. I also included individuals who are unfamiliar with social media or are not as active to figure out the problem area I should target.

After conducting a series of interviews, I realized that to most people, giving out likes versus receiving likes are two entirely different processes. Most of my interviewees mentioned that the emotional impact that likes have on them varies greatly between the two. For example, one of my peers explained that because posting a photo requires a considerable amount of time and effort, the likes that she receives mean much more than those she gives out to others.

I started to question why giving out likes is not as significant as receiving likes. Therefore, I sought ways to bridge this gap by making the process of giving likes have more meaning.

— Design

After approaching this challenge from various angles, I realized that the solution does not need to be complicated and decided to take a simple approach. To me, linking a physical activity that requires an active, conscious task to liking posts seemed to be an appropriate way to give more meaning to liking. This thought helped me come up with an idea — in order to like a post, you have to physically lift a heavy ball.

1. Design similar to Instagram

2. Slow down the current liking process

3. Make the liking process more difficult

— Process

Using an arduino and my proficiency in physical computing, I designed a mockup Instagram connected to a separate physical button that would only allow participants to like a post once a heavy ball is placed on top of it. Through a tangible interaction of putting a ball to push the button, participants are encouraged to be more conscious and deliberate with their likes. The heavy ball that they have to lift also serves as a metaphorical representation of the weight that likes carry on social media.

— Final Design: Screen

— Final Design: Physical

— Participants Interview

After observing many participants interact with the system, I noticed that after their initial experience with it, they took more time to think about whether lifting the ball is worth it before liking a post, engaging in a more conscious decision. The participants reported that they had to think a lot more before liking posts and that this interaction changed how they feel about likes on Instagram.

The results clearly demonstrate that a task that involves users’ direct participation, whether physical or virtual, helps them to think more before they like or engage with posts.

— Reflection

Because this is an experimental design project, it has many challenges preventing it from being materialized in the real world. For example, it would be virtually impossible for users to carry a heavy ball with them every time they are browsing through social media, and even if this idea were to be realized, it would not be accessible to individuals who have trouble lifting heavy objects.

Moving forward, I would like to pursue a new question as to how to make it more practical. For example, one practical application of this finding would be requiring users to leave a comment before liking posts or to complete a series of tasks on the screen. In addition, for posts that contain multiple photos or video posts, users would have to look through all of the pictures or watch the entire video before being able to push the like button.