Ghost in their weekly update, joking about likes:

Descartes famously said “I think, therefore I am” — but it wasn’t until several years later when we started getting likes on Instagram that we collectively came to the realization that the meaning of life, in fact, revolves around a consistent stream of dopamine hits from the internet.

Micro.blog doesn’t have likes and for better or worse, I’m standing by that decision.

@manton I'd hit the like button on that post if I could.

@eludom Sure, but I'm much happier receiving an actual reply. Worth 100 likes. 🙂

@manton 👏🏽👏🏽 I firmly believe that ‘likes’ changes how and what a person writes.

@manton I like that. I really not having likes.

@manton 👍🏻

@manton I love mb for this

@manton It's definitely for better. Actually conversing with someone, instead of tapping a button, is one of the great benefits of micro.blog.

@manton Stay the course. We’re with you!

@manton Absolutely the right approach 👍

@pratik That's a good point.

@drose Glad to hear it, thanks!

@artkavanagh Thanks. 👍

@jzfski Thank you!

@manton This is a defining feature of Micro.blog, for me, and I'm so happy that you stand by this decision.

@JimRain Thanks, I think so too. A real interaction is just worth more, even if it is less frequent than a like click.

@cygnoir Thanks so much.

@manton “likes”, follower counts, and algorithmic timelines are the path to narcissism.

@notunremarkable 🙂

@kjz Thank you. 👍

@manton That was an attempt a dry humor ...

@manton ❤️

@manton I'll be the one to represent the opposite opinion: I think private likes (visible to only the author) would help people receive encouragement to stick with this "shouting into the void" hobby.

@eludom Oh yeah, I read it that way.

@briandigital I agree and wrote about this a while ago. cc @manton

@briandigital @manton But would a possible compromise be to let the author of a post choose to whether to allow “likes” (and default it to not allow them)? And also to make them only visible to the author?