Humans Evolved to Like ‘Likes'
Statistically speaking, you've probably already pressed a like button several times today. If you're under 20 years old, even more. Perhaps you recently posted on Instagram or Facebook and have been eagerly checking as the like count rises on your phone—each new like accompanied by a buzz in your pocket and a flutter in your heart. But why do we like the like button so much that it almost immediately became the most used feature on social media—and by now is at the fingertips of the majority of humans on the planet?
In 2018, neuroscientist Lauren Sherman and colleagues set out to study that question. They asked 58 young people, aged 13 to 21, to go through their Instagram accounts and select several photos they had posted recently. Each participant then had the chance to view the photos chosen by the whole group, using an interface designed to mimic Instagram, including a like button. They did so while lying in an fMRI machine, allowing researchers to see if the brain lights up when we hit the like button—and if so, what parts of it.
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