Labs

Inspired by the documentation of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, our strategy team curated a list of links that illustrate how governments, NGOs and ordinary people are using media – both new and old – to document current events and encourage political engagement. Our interest lies in creative uses of technology – whether it is web-based or not.

It's time to add some baggage to the word "like".

While the conversation rages about Open Graph and Facebook's new grab to dominate the internet, I'm stuck on the change in semantics. Suddenly we're being prompted to "like" rather than "become a fan" of posts, pages and other content all over the web. This is more awkward than it might seem. No longer am I a "fan" of Coke or Guitar Hero, I'm now a... "liker"? "One who likes"? When I visit the brand's page, is that a "Like Page"? Maybe an "Online Community For Likers"? And don't banner ads seem a tinge bald and desperate when the call to action reads "Like Our Brand!"? It's a syntactic hornet's nest. So what is it about that four-letter-word that promotes it to such an integral position everywhere we look online?