and things went downhill from there

I see that Livejournal has added a “like” button. How very Facebook of them.

I like the idea in principle because sometimes I just want to acknowledge that I read somebody’s post, and at the end I can just click a button to let them know that they are not posting to a void, even if I could not think of anything to add or reply.

Having said this, I would prefer if they added a nuanced response button.

Facebook has addressed this to some extent by extending their selections to expressions such as: like, love, laugh, wow, happy, sad and angry.

I’d like to see slightly more nuanced buttons though, for concepts such as:

“I read this post and I like what you said.”

“I read this post and I disliked with what you said.”

“I read this post and I agree with what you said.”

“I read this post and I disagree with what you said.”

“I read this post and I laughed at the drollness of what you said.”

“I read this post and it made me angry.”

“I read this post and it made me sad.”

“I read this post and it triggered emotions that are not otherwise covered here.”

“I read this post and I commiserate with what you have said.”

“I read this post and I would like to express my condolences.”

“I read this post and I would like to express my condolences, tempered by the shared knowledge that we both hated the individual who is sick, injured, dying or dead.”

“I read this post and I agree with what you said, but ironically so because everyone who knows me knows that I would not agree with something like this.”

“I read this post and I want those three minutes of my life back. This was not only a waste of perfectly good words, but it took up real estate in my friends feed that could have been better served by a dank meme, or a picture of somebody’s dog. I would unfriend you, but I find some level of schadenfreude in following the train wreck that is your life.”

“I read this post and I have nothing more to add.”

“I did not read this post, but I clicked this button anyway.”

I did not pay close attention to the can when I grabbed it, so I was expecting sardines in my lunch today. It is not that I am displeased by my accidental selection, but I would have psyched myself up for squid if I had known.

Wish me luck.


If I have any say in the matter, my return here has some traction and staying power this time. There are more of you active here then I had even been hoping to find, though it does feel like I am posting to a void of zombie accounts for the most part. Still, I am posting here for selfishly cathartic reasons anyway. There are things that I cannot say on Facebook, and cannot cram into Twitter.