Mallory and I weigh the benefits of paint (and “sharing.”)

My daughter and I taped this internal strategy debate last week, (link here if the video embed is not working).  I’ve always said that facebook and social networks are the synthetic, digital equivalent of “word of mouth.”

I take that back.  There’s nothing synthetic about it.  There’s real stuff going on here.

When you “like” something, you have to sit there and think, “do I really like it?   What will my friends think if I like this?   Will this offend Kate’s husband, that humorless, hovering guy that cornered me at the last potluck?  Will they even see it?  Will Janet rag on me endlessly if I ‘like’ this?”   Sometimes, you just end up concluding, “maybe I’ll like this later, at three in the morning, when no one sees the feed.”

Maybe you don’t think about it that much, but my sense is that some of those internal mechanisms are hard at work when your right index finger rests on the left button, feeling trigger-happy.  For your digital community, you are defining yourself, declaring your taste, your political preferences, your peeves.   I don’t want to psyche anyone out, but we are all probably creating a psychometric personality profile over time.  If constitutional liberties every expire completely, we’re creating our own files for our new overseers.  (“Exactly what did did you mean by “liking” Patrick Henry?  What was that all about?”)

There’s a part of us trying very hard to keep our “likes” as bland as possible.

“Sharing” is a higher universe entirely.  Admit it.  Aren’t you secretly thrilled when someone “shares” your post?  Don’t you click over there to Tracey’s page to see if her friends have liked the share?   And isn’t there something deeply satisfying about a share upon share upon share?   Isn’t that our Sally Field Oscar moment?

And what’s with a share without a like?   Are they trying to tell you something?   Are you being held up for ridicule somewhere?  Better check over there on that page to see if there’s any commentary.  Okay, so fine, your friend has said something very nice but your friend’s friend is being a real jerk about it.  Comment or not?  Like or not?   The possibilities are endless.   Mark Zuckerberg deserves every billion he gets off this deal.  He’s a genius.

Of course, I would like to think most Americans just recklessly click those like and share buttons and live dangerously, but the other day a very sensible, sober LAWYER friend of mine shared a Monsanto cover up video.   I thought “I’ve seen these things for the last two months, but if JULIE is sharing this, I better take a look.”  I suppose this would be the argument for reserving your likes and shares for the important stuff, so they will have more weight when the do take place.

All of this is to say that we don’t take “likes” and “shares” lightly.  We know they are hard earned, BUT if intelligent period drama is something you “like” don’t be afraid to be too high brow on your page.   We think people will “like” you for it.

It would be fantastic if you liked us, but we would be absolutely beside ourselves if you shared us.