This just in: Love is dead.
That’s not exactly true, Love, (or so I hear), is not exactly dead, but it is certainly slipping in the popularity polls lately.
Oh, sure Love still gets lots of play from songwriters. (I mean, it’s not quite as poetic to sing, “I like you like a Like Song, baby”).
And Love is still a sweet marketing tool. (“You’ll like our burger”, ain’t exactly riveting restaurant ad copy).
And yes, Love is still the measuring stick of all high school romantic relationships. (Word of advice, gentlemen: The phrase, “I’m in like with you.”, does not quite melt the lady’s heart).
So, on the surface, Love seems to still be in the game; still down, still hip, still with-it…
But yet, one look at your News Feed, and you can see the all-caps, bold-type reality, that there’s a brand new king in town.
Like is the new Love.
Let’s face it, social media is essentially a massive “like-fest”, a perpetual, rolling, parade of our internal insecurities, all desperate to be approved of, admired, applauded, and be called beautiful… by pretty much, anyone.
(Look at your own profile and you know I’m right, don’t you?)
You throw that sweetly Photoshopped selfie up on Instagram, and you wait for it…
You complete that perfectly clever 140-character Twitter platitude, and you wait for it…
You forward that socially-conscious Facebook article (that you have barely read), and you wait…
You write and revise and post that brilliant blog about being liked, and well…
Most of us don’t like to admit it, but we will do and say and post, just about anything, in the name of Like.
We have long given-up on Love, because we’re seeing someone else.
And really, who wouldn’t prefer Like as a companion, anyway?
Like is so low-maintenance. It doesn’t require so much work; so much nurturing, the way Love does.
Like just shows up, makes us feel good, and doesn’t ask for an investment of time or honesty or respect.
Like is so giving, so easy; not all burdened and uptight like Love, with its annoying “standards”.
And hey, when it comes to our egos, we’ll take the fast food anytime. We are all about getting the quick and cheap and convenient.
Like has that stuff, in spades.
Honestly, when it comes to our online selves, most of us would rather be liked by a small army of relative strangers, than loved by a few true friends.
Why bother with accountability, when you can just get approval?
Who needs intimacy, when you can have immediacy?
Why bother with relationships, when you can get compliments?
I’m still hopeful that Love will eventually come back into style; that it will rebound from this momentary pop culture funk, and once again be a word to strive for and embrace, but I’m not holding my breath.
I’m afraid most of us are simply too content with the instant, easy life, here in Likeville.
So, until that day comes; when Love again makes the world go around, when it once more can save the day, when it can once again, conquer all… can you do me a big favor, and like this blog?
