Why don't people like my status

By M.Farouk Radwan, MSc.

Is there anything wrong with me?

Why don't so many people like the status updates i put on Facebook and other social networks?
Why don't they re-tweet my tweets and share the stuff i post?
Does this mean i am bad?

Before i can answer any of these questions i first need to tell you about the psychological reasons that motivates people to like something in Facebook or in real life.

Remember the last time you were in love? What were the songs you used to listen to most often? Most probably you used to listen to love songs that repeated the beliefs you had in mind.

There are two main reasons people like certain things, here they are:

  • 1) They resonate with their beliefs: If someone repeated something that you believe in then most probably you will like what he said. After all people love to get support and to be backed up by those who share common beliefs. (see also Why some people like depression music)
  • 2) It resonates with their moods: When you feel motivated you would want to listen to motivating songs. When you feel in love you would want to listen to romantic songs. In order for us to like something it must also match our current emotional state and not just our beliefs

Why don't people like my status

Right after the presidential election in Egypt ended i posted a joke that supports one of the candidates. This post got more than 300 responses (shares,likes...etc) which is a really huge number to be produced by a personal Facebook account and not a fan page. (see also The psychology of jokes)

Because almost half of the people supported that person they liked the post because it repeated their belief out loud. In addition, the elections was the topic that everyone was talking about these days so the status actually resonated with the feelings of people at that time. (See also Why do people have different tastes)

Now back to you. The first reason a person might not like your status is that it wasn't aligned with his beliefs. sometimes i write really positive status on Facebook and many people don't like them, not because i am saying negative stuff but because some people actually think negativity.

When you write something such as "you can create your own luck" helpless people, cowards, negative ones and those who have low self esteem will object. In other words, sometimes you can write things that are too good to be understood by some people. (see also Does luck has anything to do with success)

Lack of resonance

I really like jokes but i don't always like every joke i see online. When a person is in a certain mood he tends to like the things that reflect that mood and ignore all other things. A friend of mine who just broke up kept sharing negative quotes, pictures and sad songs.

Not because she is a sad person but because this is how she felt these days. Most probably this friend won't share or like a positive status given her current mood.

In other words, even if a person should like what you said his current mood will still determine which status updates he will like.

Personal reasons

In my article Do we judge others fairly i explained how people are masters of discrimination and double standers. Before most people like a status on Facebook or any other social network they first check who said it and in some cases they refuse to like a status that appealed to them just because a certain person said it.

Jealousy is the perfect explanation in many cases. If a friend who is jealous of you saw your status about a good achievement you made then there is a good chance that he won't like it while he would have done otherwise if someone else posted that same status.

2knowmyself is not a complicated medical website nor a boring online encyclopedia but rather a place where you will find simple, to the point and effective information that is backed by psychology and presented in a simple way that you can understand and apply. If you think that this is some kind of marketing hype then see what other visitors say about 2knowmyself.

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