If you haven’t heard yet, you might be living under a rock somewhere. Facebook Like tabs are now everywhere on the Web and have even replaced the Fan pages. But, Millennials don’t seem to like it.
“(I’m) not a fan. Pun completely intended,” tweeted Greg Digneo, a Millennial in New Jersey, in response to a question about his take on Facebook Fans vs. Facebook Likes.
The thing Millennials seem to dislike the most is that this new feature clogs up their newsfeed with all the things their friends like.
“I wish there was a way to block seeing what everyone 'likes' on Facebook. Annoying...” said Annette Nagle, a Millennial in Pennsylvania.
It may be annoying to the average user, but the Facebook Likes feature will provide a lot of marketing and research value, which has to be the driving force in the change. TechCrunch reported Wednesday that Facebook already has over 30 partners lined up to incorporate the Like function.
These heavy hitters like ESPN, CNN, IMDb, and the one receiving the most comments on Twitter, a Millennial favorite, Pandora, have a a Facebook Like button implemented and working. Anyone can Like something on these partner sites, write a little tidbit as to why and then publish to Facebook if they choose. And, if they publish it, their Like and comment will show up on their friends’ feeds.
“Whoa! This just got creepier. Pandora tells you which of your Facebook friends likes the artist you're listening to? This stuff is huge,” tweeted Kevin Loker, a Millennial in Virginia.
But from a marketing standpoint, the new Like feature is anything but creepy. It’s a virtual goldmine of information.
“I love the potential marketing ramifications,” said Digneo, whose day job is running a marketing business. “I’m going to be able to get a lot more information from my potential customers and that will help grow my business and my customers’ businesses.”
Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced Wednesday Facebook would serve one billion likes on the Web in just 24 hours, reported TechCrunch. That provides mounds of marketing information to anyone ready to comb through the data.
Which ultimately is why Millennials are not so keen on this feature.
Millennials smell marketing tactics from about 30 miles away and at the end of the day, the new Facebook feature provides more value to marketers than it does to them.
"I'm not a ‘like this’ of new ‘like this’ for Fan pages,” tweeted Kris McDonald, a Millennial in Kansas. “Maybe it's my sports mentality, but I want to see fans not like this-ers.”
With over 24 million Millennials with Facebook accounts, according to InsideFacebook.com that’s a lot of disgruntled Facebook users out there.
I predict they’ll eventually embrace the change, staying true to their early-adopter reputation. Many are already having fun creating innuendos with Like pages rather than Fan pages (use your imagination, you’ll come up with three in about two seconds).
But, perhaps it was best said by Jennie White, a Millennial in Massachusetts, when she tweeted earlier this week, “The word ‘like’ is beginning to define Gen Y.”
White just might be right.
Millennials grew up in the throngs of the Valley girl like usage in conversation where like was used, like every other word.
Now they can easily tell all their friends, not to mention marketers, what appeals to them.
I think eventually they’re going to Like this.
Comments
I love the anecdotal evidence from Twitter. Nice article.
Who knew that tweet would be the inspiration behind another genius S. Hartwell article (I've decided that's your new nickname)?!
I agree with Gina, love the millennial tweets sprinkled throughout the post, it backs up your point really well.
I think the Facebook "like" feature is another attempt for Facebook to control the Internet and I don't like it. It's messy and invasive. Will people leave Facebook because of the new like feature? Definitely not, millennials especially are too addicted to "the book" to ever leave it (myself included).
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