What is a Like on Social Media?

A like is one of the most fundamental forms of engagement on social media platforms. It's a quick, one-click way for users to show appreciation, agreement, or acknowledgment of content without writing a comment. The like feature appears across most major social platforms, though sometimes under different names (such as "reactions" on Facebook or "favorites" on Twitter/X).

This simple interaction that signals signals approval, interest, or support for a post serves as a basic metric of content performance and audience engagement across the social media landscape.

Likes across different platforms

While the concept remains similar, likes take different forms:

Facebook: Offers expanded "reactions" including Like, Love, Care, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry

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‍Instagram: Simple heart-shaped likes (double-tap or button press)

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LinkedIn: Traditional thumbs-up plus additional reaction options

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‍Twitter/X: Heart-shaped "favorites" that serve the same function

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TikTok: Heart-shaped likes central to the algorithm

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Pinterest: Heart-shaped likes that save content to a liked board