The Intrepid Explorer 

Living – Life – Large

Freeing yourself from the confinement of society's bewildering ways is the first forward motion to a series of natural and spontaneous exchanges of living free and worry free. There is a resistance that must be developed allowing these interactions to flow in a direction that you prefer. Oftentimes, that direction is a deflection towards a safer direction.
Let's look into a rather new discourse. Take for example the word of mouth, which is the passing of information from person to person using the fading art of face-to-face oral communication. This human and social interaction could be as simple as telling someone, with a smile, the time of day.
Study after study shows that people trust personal recommendations above all other sources of information. Real opinions from like-minded people trump influencers, brand-generated content and all types of crafty selling gimmicks. 
Essentially, companies constantly try to create the spark that causes the wild firestorm of chatter. Since studies show that most people trust the advice of family and friends, focusing on word-of-mouth marketing can be more beneficial and cost-effective than other forms of marketing.
Now introduce into the bubbling pot of bewilderment, Facebook, which is now merely a subcontinent of Metaverse. Metaverse is the new world order that runs Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram, among others. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook, said he wants Metaverse to be the virtual reality world where people can do anything and everything, including work and socialization.
In this fake world of controlled and uncontrolled information, which heavily includes misinformation, the new word of mouth is being “liked.”

One of the first things that is being done now, instead of watching the sun rise in the morning when you wake, is to check your social feed and see how many “likes” you have. Depending on your poison of choice, whichever platforms we’re on, and most people have more than just one, the first checkpoint of the day is the “notification” tab. It is an insular act that society has quickly allowed to become an addiction. 
The populace has found another little dopamine rush. For every thumbs up or heart we get a little psychological high. The more "likes" the better we feel about ourselves. The more "likes" we have, the more "likes" we want.
A recent study on the effect social media "likes" have on the developing brains of youth likens it to winning money or eating chocolate. The study also demonstrated that people are more likely to engage with posts that have been endorsed, or "liked," by a large number of their peers. This is nothing but following the crowd mentality.
Face-to-face communication is seemingly becoming awkward. People don’t have time anymore to think of the words before they’re leaving their mouth. They share thoughts and interests primarily because of the need to stay connected with the people they care about. Humans also want to give others an idea of who we are. If friends and followers like your posts you feel good. Remember, the more "likes," the more dopamine, the better the high.
In today’s world, "likes" on social media are a part of the foundation of the Internet. Everywhere from social media, video platforms, news outlets, and e-commerce websites make use of "like" buttons to allow users to signal how they feel about a post, some content, or even a product.
Likes on social media are a form of lazy communication allowing us to signal our validation and approval with a single click, without having to type anything, or say a word.
Content on Facebook alone is now "liked" more than 3 billion times per day and estimates suggest that since its inception, the like button has been pressed many trillions of times.
Though it may not be seen, or liked, there is a dark side of social media "likes." There’s another less appreciated but worrying aspect to "likes:" validation, addiction and how it can affect mental health.
"Likes" and the data behind them can be very powerful tools, allowing companies to provide customers with a better experience. However, on a personal level, there’s plenty of evidence that "likes," or the drive to attain them, can be incredibly damaging for some individuals’ mental health.
"Likes" are a powerful form of validation. There is disappointment when a post gains very few "likes," even though the person posting thought it should get more. For most, this is probably a minor disappointment, but for some it can cause a great deal of anxiety.
The future of "likes" is uncertain. On one hand, they’re an extremely powerful and valuable tool for platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and are used to fuel billions of dollars of advertising revenue. They also can push, manipulate and corrupt what is, with what is not. 
On the other hand, if these data are not carefully directed, its use can extend far beyond providing better customer experiences and step into a world where it is manipulating society and causing harm to users. Either way, it has become one of the most powerful tools ever created. Because of the dollar signs that are attached to a "like," the power of "likes" will not be leaving the entanglement of what the world now has become. - dbA

You can find more of the unfiltered insight of Dan Abernathy at www.contributechaos.com and SUBSCRIBE to his YouTube Channel, The Intrepid Explorer.