About Likes

"Like" is a button with a counter and a thumb-up icon. What function does it serve? It’s meant to rank posts and comments, helping to separate more valuable ones from less valuable ones.

Why the "like" is a UI/UX mistake

The "like" was created in an earlier era when social networks were filled with posts like “me and my dog,” “my kids’ graduation,” or “me in Bali.” A valuable post or comment was simply one that many people liked: it simply brought them positive emotions. But times have changed. Nowadays social media is a space for social and political discourse, where difficult topics are raised and proposed solutions aren’t always soft or pleasant.

Let’s consider the following image:

Be honest — does this post deserve public attention? Is it valuable? Now, another question: do you _like _the content of this post? Are you ready to hit this "like" button?

The problem with the "like" is that it carries emotionally overloaded meaning and symbolism, while many posts and comments deserve public attention despite offering no pleasure. These posts don’t get likes, don't get high ranks, and simply vanish. Our problem is: we’ve conflated two concepts: a value indicator and a positive emotional reaction.

How attempts to fix "likes" with "reactions" only made things worse

Many modern platforms sensed this issue, but without understanding the root cause, they layered in more UI/UX: instead of the simple "like" button, they introduced lists of emotional reactions: anger, surprise, joy, sympathy...

Why doesn’t this solve the problem? The original like button was a value counter. Now we have 3 to 10 separate counters. How should we evaluate or compare comment values now? What formula should we use? Is 2 “angry” equal to 1 “happy”? Should we count them all equally? If a comment gets 5 “laugh” reactions — are people laughing at it (mocking it, a downvote), or with it (finding it funny, an upvote)? No one knows.

Let’s take a look at another picture:

Personally, I find the first 3 reactions nearly identical, and the next 4 could be (mis)interpreted as either upvotes or downvotes.

So "reactions" come with three main problems:

1. There are too many to avoid confusion, yet too few to express the full emotional range.
2. They duplicate what comments do better. And now, with voice input, swipe keyboards, and emoji palettes, writing a quick emotional comment is just as easy as picking a reaction.
3. They fragment feedback into multiple independent counters — making clear, consistent ranking of posts and comments impossible.

How Latis.cc do it right

The solution can be simple. It comes from rethinking the purpose of the like counter: to reflect the value of a post or comment to the community.

Let’s give our button a neutral label: "upvote." If a post or comment presents an idea, upvoting means you agree — regardless of emotions. If it simply states an issue, upvoting means you’re helping to raise awareness.

It’s simple and unambiguous.

The only obstacle is that we’ve spent 20 years using the thumbs-up icon to represent a “like”, but we don’t yet have a universally accepted symbol for “upvote.” Here are a few options:

• 🤝 Handshake
• ⬆️ Up arrow
• ✅ Check mark

Let’s examine them:

• The handshake icon 🤝 is too complex. At 16×16px, it turns into a colorful blob. It’s also hard to recognize on small screens.
• An up-arrow icon ⬆️, when placed in the utility bar beneath a post (next to buttons like "reply," "go up one level," or "open in a new window") can easily be mistaken for a navigation element.
• That leaves the check mark icon ✅, and that’s actually a good thing. It’s intuitive. Everyone understands voting. And if a check mark appears under a comment, its meaning is immediately clear.

The new version of latis.cc replaced the “like” button with an upvote, and that’s the right move:

What do you think — should other platforms make this shift?