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Like motivations
Hedonic motivation:
Utilitarian motivation:
Compliance motivation:
Conformity motivation:
None
Affiliation motivation:
Two of the interviewees stated that they would not give a “like” to a post with only a small number of “likes” as they did not want to be the few ones to show appreciation, even though they “like” the content.
Jin also stated that she would not “like” content posted by someone she dislikes, even though she thought the content was good.
Hao said she “likes” what her friends posted because they wanted her to “like” it. Jin holds a similar view, saying she would “like” whatever her friends posted.
Zhu said that thought he needed to show support through “liking” to maintain his relationship with other microcelebrities active on the same social media platform. However, he gradually began to doubt the idea of relying on “likes” to promote friendship. By pressing a “like”, the formality of maintaining an interpersonal relationship, a friendship or even a business relationship is shrunk into a minimal gesture, just a click. He noticed and questioned the limit to the meaning a simple “like” could express.
Zhu and Jin stated that they would “like” content simply because they liked that specific person.
Zhu explained that he usually “likes” a post because, as a fellow content creator, he understands the difficulties in producing online content.
It shows that in addition to the main five motives, one’s motivations and reasons for “liking” online content on social media platforms vary depending on one’s likelihood and experience towards the creator, which could be totally subjective.
Self-esteem and Self-evaluation
Tang, a cosplayer of a game character, claimed that the number of “likes” has a strong emotional impact that helps build her confidence. She believes a positive correlation exists between her appearance being posted on her account and the number of “likes”. She thinks she gets more “likes” when she posts a beautiful, satisfied image of herself. When the number of “likes” is significantly less when she posts something new, much more than her posts’ usual and average reception, she feels less confident in her appearance and will easily be anxious. She sometimes eats less to keep her figure slim and ensure she looks good. Tang also shared the experience of another friend, Ann, a creator in the same Cosplayer community. She recalled Ann expressing her anxiety in a casual group chat as she was getting a low number of “likes”. In their community, the number of “likes” is closely related to the audience’s evaluation of a Cosplayer’s appearance and ability. Many creators have suffered from appearance anxiety. As a friendly gesture, Tang bought Ann some “likes” online, and as Ann received more “likes” again, she acted so excited and seemed to have regained her confidence.
KOL Zhu, who describes himself as an empathetic person, agrees his emotional state is affected by the number of “likes”, just like Tang and Ann. His perception of himself often derives from other people’s comments, and the number of “likes” undoubtedly impacts how he evaluates himself. He sometimes became frustrated and doubtful when he did not receive the desired number of “likes”. Zhu said they would hide or even delete the content they posted from their profile if it did not receive many “likes”.
Hao seems to be less susceptible to the number of “likes”. Despite having just a few “likes” per content she posted, Hao continues to create new content. Hao’s perception of herself does not rely on the number of “likes” she gets; she sees social media platforms only as a medium to record and share her life. In her case, audience responses on social media do not cause noticeable negative emotions for her.