When it comes to blogging I blog for myself. I write posts about topics and things I find interesting. Things that I’ve taken time to research and want to share. I write a blog post and publish it for others to read. My blog in return gets views and visitors. And, the posts get likes; and sometimes a comment. The other day I noticed that my one post received a like, but no view. I looked into how that could happen. According to WordPress’s article on Jetpack Stats and Insights they define views and visitors the following way:
- A view is when someone loads, or reloads, the post or page
- A visitor is when they see a user, or browser, for the first time in an unspecified time frame
The article also mentions that views are reported within five minutes, while visitors can take up to two hours to be reflected in the statistics. As described in this video they did on the subject:
When someone goes through the WordPress feed and clicks on like it will register the like. But, it will not count as a view to the post; or as a visitor to the blog. Meaning they didn’t read the post at all. They saw it in the WordPress feed and clicked like. WordPress allows people to turn off visitors ability to like posts, on their blog. It however remains on the WordPress feed. All a like does is show how many people with a WordPress account clicked the like button.
Why click like and not read a post?
When a user clicks like it leaves behind a small icon. Others can then see who liked the post, and follow that icon back to that persons blog. In short, it becomes a small advertisement for the blogger. It also is a way for one blogger to get the author of the blog to check out their blog. So, clicking that like button could result in traffic and followers for their blog.
The benefit of being able to like a post
There are some bloggers, like me, who read posts and click on the like button if we like the post. We might not leave a comment, but at the least we click that button to show that we liked the post. Others click the button to show that they read the post. Either way, it can be a way for some to show some feedback to the author.
The drawback to the like button
Bloggers take time to come up with a blog post. Each post is written, edited, and finally posted to the blog. It takes work. We like to know that the person who clicked like actually read the post. When someone goes through and likes every post on our blog in two minutes or less; its disheartening. It makes it feel fake and like its nothing more than a numbers game. At some point it begins to become a spamming tool from the other bloggers. If you have twenty posts and someone likes all twenty within two minutes; that’s spamming. Then it’s easy to see how turning off that button completely is appealing.
If I could change one thing, what would I change?
I know that WordPress is a community. They stress the ability for users to share, like, follow, and comment on others blogs. That’s not going to change. However, it would be a nice option for people to be able to turn off that like button completely.
Post Inspired By Daily Prompt:
If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?
A Leisurely Chat 
That’s very interesting. I only “like” posts that I have read but I can see your point about those who use it as self-advertising. It would be nice to have a fairer system.
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I too like posts that I have read, and like. I agree about a fairer system being needed. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. 🙂
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