If this Post Reaches 1 Million Likes, Nothing Will Happen

Let me drop some knowledge on you:

The only people who ask for likes on Facebook (or any social network) are marketers. That’s it.

Sure, there may have been a time when someone genuinely posted a photo promising some adorable outcome if they reached a certain amount of likes, but those are few and far between.

More often than not, a picture like this is designed to get you to like the post.

Why?

On Facebook, the more a page’s posts are liked the more often its future posts get seen. Facebook has an algorithm called “Edge Rank” that controls what you see in your newsfeed. Facebook only wants to deliver content you would be interested in, so it tailors content based on what you are interacting with.

Every social network has some sort of algorithm that gives priority to certain types of content. If someone wants to preferred placement in these algorithms, they would find a way to drive more interaction – like create a fake post designed to get thousands of likes.

Even if the page or account that generates the post looks innocent, I’d be willing to bet you they are just trying to build a following in order to place ads in your feeds.

For example, I most recently saw this on LinkedIn, where this photo has been making the rounds:

One of my friends on the network left a comment, proving this image was doctored and linking to the actual image. He provided fundamental proof this post was a fraud, and I applaud him for it.

So, next time you see a post on your favorite social network asking for a like, assume it is a scam. I virtually guarantee you it is. Even if it isn’t, instead of clicking “like” to support a veteran, maybe you should donate a few dollars to charity. I guarantee those few bucks will do a lot more than one million likes would.