How liking people’s posts equals more followers on social media

In the social media world, trophies and bounty come in form of likes, retweets, shares and comments; it is what we all want.

It is the reason why you always get excited when new people (those you don’t even know) retweet and share your post.

More often than not you will end up checking out that person’s profile and try to see if what they post resonates with you.

If it does, there is a high chance you will like, comment and in some instances even follow them.

The Experiment

I started a Facebook page with the aim of getting high engagement.

The plan was simple: Like, comment and send emojis on people’s posts.

Everyone I ‘liked’ and commented on more than five of their posts either followed me, sent me a request or constantly commented on my art and music page.

In two weeks I had a pretty decent following to myself and reached a minimum of three hundred people in a day and getting more than 100 likes and over 20 comments on my posts.

 So why did this work?

Likes, shares and comments appeal to the mind, albeit subconsciously.

They tap into the core of who we are as humans according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

They touch our anxieties, fears, need for attention, approval and love.

A ‘like’ on someone’s post can be equivalent to a hug from a parent in times of need.

What happens in the brain?

Behind the scenes, a single ‘like’ is enough to make the brain produce dopamine- a chemical that is linked to how we feel pleasure, motivation and satisfaction.

Another chemical produced is oxytocin or commonly known as the cuddle chemical mostly secreted when we kiss someone we love.

Ten minutes on Twitter has been known to raise the chemicals level to a high of 13%, equivalent to the moment someone reads out their vows.

How to use this to your advantage

We crave for attention, compliments and above all, we want reaffirmations that we matter.

You can start applying this concept by liking people’s posts and leaving a comment.

The result will be secretion of the chemical which will lead to a feeling of love and belonging from that person towards you and eventually a loyal following.

Don’t be surprised to find some people sliding to your DM for a more personal relationship.