“That Button” Obsession! – To Press or Not to Press?

I’m not talking about a belly button, bathroom flushing buttons, buttons on clothes or pushing anyone’s hot buttons…well, perhaps keep reading. What I’m talking about is the “like” button – Yep that’s the one!

I wake up everyday and like most of us; there are messages on our screen about who has pressed “that button”. We race from one platform to another looking, hoping, wondering and most of all, wanting people to have pressed “that button”.

Then we wish that we could add all the button presses into one total, so no matter which platform, anyone looking, can see the final total of all the button presses you got!

People buy the button to get more presses. People offer giveaways to get a button press. People ask you outright to press that button and for what? So, that you can say, “I’m LIKEable”?

I, myself, am all too familiar with this social phenomenon proudly having a Facebook and Instagram account. My Facebook button gets pressed a lot more than my Instagram and the other day someone said to me, “Make sure you let people know that even though there are not many button pushes on Instagram, your Facebook one has lots!” That’s what drove me to write this article.

That button is “one click communication” – but really, how gratifying is it?

What would happen if we went back to old fashion communication when “that button” didn’t exist, yes I hear you, it takes much more time and effort to write words than click a button, the results …well I’ll let you be the judge.

Instead of being “liked” by the push of a button, I challenge you to try the old fashion, more intimate way of words and interaction. The like is wordless communication and why waste words with a button. There is more love, more empathy and more human interaction by using words and not “that button”.

So the next time you go to click “that button”, perhaps try using words instead. Watch the results. They will astound you. Today, I was on the receiving end from some LinkedIn posts that used words about our company instead of “likes” – I was blown away at how uplifted and positive I felt. Uplift other people by taking the time to truly communicate…and feel free to click “that button” too!