The Thorny Issue of WordPress Likes?

Wordpress LIkesmallDo you ever feel Liking guilt?
I know if I’ve had a particularly busy period I feel guilt for not liking the posts of the bloggers who follow and like my posts.  Therefore, often I’m playing catchup trying to make sure I haven’t missed any.

WordPress stops me liking
In playing catch-up I often run foul of WordPress’s arbitrary limit on liking so I leave the site and try again later. Does anyone think this arbitary WordPress limit needs revising? Are there such things as Bots who like posts that WordPress is blocking by this limiting?

Should we value likes?
Some bloggers only get a handful of likes for each post.  Is that because they don’t reciprocate and give likes back?  Or perhaps they don’t care to join the WordPress “hamster wheel” that can eat up a lot of time, that could otherwise be spent creating.  What do you think?

Bloggers Who Post Often
More and more bloggers choose to post weekly or even daily, should the people who are subscribed to those blogs like every post?

What Do You Think?
Perhaps I’m on my own in thinking this way about WordPress likes?  It has it’s uses – to show others that we like and notice their writings.   I guess it was intended to encourage interaction between fellow bloggers and it can do that, but could or should WordPress create a better vehicle to encourage us to read and comment on other blogs?

I Apologise 
If in the course of blogging these nine years on WordPress I have overlooked posts I should have liked, I am sorry and promise I will do my best to like the bloggers who have liked and supported this blog.  I hope my little post that has sat in my draft folder for many months starts a debate amongst fellow WordPress bloggers.   I wish I had more time to read every blog that I follow, but the best I can hope for is to dip in and out because they brighten my busy day. 

The Thorny Issue of WordPress Likes ©Kevin Ashton 2024

Watch out for my recipe post in a couple of days:)

44 thoughts on “The Thorny Issue of WordPress Likes?”

  3. I didn’t realize that there was a liking limit but I think we should feel free to like what we like, no matter how many times we click our mouse on that little star, in one day. Not everybody has time to be on WordPress everyday, so when we catch up we may like quite a few posts in one session. Also the more blogs we follow, the more we are going to like or comment on them. By blocking this, WordPress is really encouraging people to be less active on the platform. WordPress should find a way to let us do this blogging and following thing the way we want to. BTW I enjoy your blog and I think it’s fine that you visit ours when you have time and when you can’t, that’s fine too. All the best. 😊

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Hi Julie,
      And apologies for this late reply and thank you for the great points you make.

      I think the limit that WordPress place on LIKES is a little over the top and ridiculous because it doesn’t take into account real life and that people are often playing catch-up in their busy lives (like me lol.)

      Best Wishes
      Kevin

      Liked by 1 person

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  4. I use the Likes to show the blogger Hey, I’ve seen your stuff, you are acknowledged and noticed. For me it doesn’t mean I’m madly in love with that specific post, just that the author didn’t post into the void.

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  5. Hola Kevin, “Ojalá tuviera más tiempo para leer cada blog que siga, pero lo mejor que puedo esperar es sumármele y saliendo porque iluminan mi ajetreado día.”

    Realmente es tiempo aparte, yo voy leyendo unos algunos días, y otros otros días, porque además de seguir, también tienes que hacer tus anotaciones, que las preparas con lo mejor de ti o cuando menos intentadlo.

    “Sé que si he tenido un período particularmente ocupado” si es que todos tenemos una vida no solo en las redes que son geniales, pero debes ir guardando este equilibrio, incluso cuando me enfermo, pues no puedo hacer lo mismo, en redes…

    Lo que si me pasa con WordPress, es que a veces tengo blogs que sigo y cuando los busco, debo suscribirme nuevamente, y también hay días dos un me gusta, y zass desaparecen, claro de pronto tengo estar revisando mucho más de lo que me gustaría.

    Que tengas una linda tarde de domingo y un gran inicio de semana

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Dear Regina,

      Thank you so much for taking time to join this discussion on WordPress Likes.

      Like many of us blogger it is always a Question of Balance between reading the blogs we follow, liking and saving time to be creative and of course life outside of blogging. 🙂
      Best Wishes
      Kevin

      Liked by 1 person

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  6. WordPress … been here for almost 15 years and can’t figure out what is or is not acceptable, to them or to the people that read my posts. I tend to “like” posts, to confirm the effort that was put forth. I may not agree with that specific thought, or idea, or philosophy, but I want those that wrote to know that I did, in fact, see their post.

    Often the numbers don’t add up …. the WordPress counter says I’ll have “X” views, but I can also have “X” plus any random number of likes? I gave up trying to figure it out a long time ago.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Hi Don and thank you sharing your thoughts on WordPress and likes,
      I agree that WordPress is hard to fathom. Congratulations on blogging on WordPress for such a long time, when is your 15th Anniversary?

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  8. “Hamster wheel” indeed, Kevin! I frequently get as many as fifty (or more) Likes in the course of a single minute from someone who, 1) obviously hasn’t read any of the posts they’re “liking,” and, 2) is simply looking for a reciprocal “Like-barrage” from me.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. So does anyone have a good suggestion of how to improve the system so we can acknowledge the writers we follow?

      I have about 1,600+ WordPress followers and other bloggers have many more so how do they strike a balance between liking, reading and creating? Generally speaking if someone follows me I do likewise unless I see something objectionable on their blog. I even go so far as to translate a few blog posts to make sure I’m not applauding the next wannabe Hitler or mass shooter.

      I use a lot of social media to attract views to my recipes and writing and that to is a modern conundrum of balance between liking and creativity.
      Thanks for joining the discussion Mitch.
      Best Wishes
      Kevin

      Liked by 2 people

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    1. Hi Laya,

      Just to be accurate I google the question and found this quote from WordPress.

      “We do limit both Likes and Follows to prevent people from abusing those features by liking and following sites in bulk from the Reader in an attempt to draw traffic to their own sites. The Like feature is intended to show appreciation for posts you actually read, not to “show interest” in posts you scroll past in the Reader without actually reading them.

      Your account has indeed been blocked from liking posts several times already. To be blocked you need to like a very high number of posts in a limited time – more posts than you could reasonably read in that same time period. If you repeatedly hit that limit your account can be blocked from liking posts permanently.”

      So if you have a lot of followers returning their likes can be problematic and I think WordPress is being very pedantic.
      Best Wishes
      Kevin 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

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    1. Thank you so much for joining this discussion on WordPress likes.

      I wanted to be accurate in my response to WordPress limiting LIKES….

      Here is a quote from a WordPress employee “We do limit both Likes and Follows to prevent people from abusing those features by liking and following sites in bulk from the Reader in an attempt to draw traffic to their own sites. The Like feature is intended to show appreciation for posts you actually read, not to “show interest” in posts you scroll past in the Reader without actually reading them.

      Best Wishes
      Kevin

      Liked by 1 person

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  11. Dear Kevin, great that you take the trouble and write about the problems a blog must cope with, even in spite of all the advantages ablog offers! Of course it isn’t easy to manage everything. I wrote about these problems here : https://ppawlo.com/2017/03/04/herzlichen-dank/ with an English translation in the second part of the post quite a long time ago. . it’s still below on my blog on the right side. So if you are interested, I hope you can find the time for it. Thanks for your many likes! I always enjoy them! I can’t manage to visit your blog so often, however. Cheers, Petra

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Hi Petra, and thank you for joining this conversation on WordPress LIkes.
      I did read your post and completely understand you postion on not leaving a LIke unless you have read the post, it is a quandary for many bloggers, me included.

      Love your art by the way!!
      Best Wishes
      Kevin

      Liked by 1 person

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  12. To like or not to like, that is the question! WP is so glitchy and gremliny. Likes and followers disappear, stats are inaccurate, blogs you follow don’t appear in reader, notifications are inaccurate, so I just include likes with all the rest of the WP twitches. Don’t worry about. Like when you feel like it. Blog when you feel like it. Blogging should be fun. I always like your blog!

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Hi Cindy,
      I absolutely agree that first and foremost blogging should be fun and not a grind.

      I do juggle more these days between writing recipes, giving cooking lessons, other food writings now that I have a Youtube channel but iti is still fun and that is why I do it.

      I also agree with you on how buggy and glitchy WordPress has become, like many long established platforms such as facebook, the more it is messed with the more gremliny it becomes.

      Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and pease keep sharing your wonderful photographs!

      Best Wishes
      Kevin

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      Reply

  13. I wish there was a ‘Delight’ button to supplant ‘Like’. ‘Like’ seems so vanilla. It’s what you tell someone you are dating whom you don’t quite ‘love’.

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Thanks Neville and Nick
      I agree that Like is a bit vanilla but at the same time perhaps in this crazy world we live in, a little more vanilla is perhaps what we need…as long as it’s “real vanilla” and not the artificial kind. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

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  15. After discovering that some bloggers click the ‘like’ button even if they haven’t read the post, I no longer take notice of who ‘likes’ a post. I take more notice of those who leave engaging comments occasionally (on my blog and those of others). Blogging should be about fun and enjoyment (unless you blog for a living), not for feeling guilty or stressed because you haven’t been able to find the time to visit somebody’s blog. Visit and comment when you can, Kevin, and forget about feeling guilty for not clicking the ‘like’ button or having visited a blog for a while.

    Happy blogging.

    Liked by 5 people

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  16. Pingback: Why Do You Use The WordPress Reader? This Is Why You Should Use It.

  19. Wait.  I didn’t know there was a limit to liking.  I get very frustrated with WordPress because often times the “like” section of a post just says “Loading” and it never loads so I can’t like a post.  And I don’t just click like, I read (or AT LEAST skim) the post so after I have read it and I don’t have the ability to like I get so frustrated.  

    I don’t know how the “liking” thing works.  I figure people are just nice and they “like” posts, but I don’t know.  I don’t get a lot of them.  When I started blogging there was a lot of information on how long a post needed to be so I used to try to meet that word count.  Then I realized that I like to read short posts so maybe other people do too, so I just started writing post how long they need to be.  

    I am late to this discussion.  

    When I get on my computer to read blogs I get distracted by other work to do and then WordPress doesn’t function so I don’t get through a lot of blogs.  I am trying a new tactic. I am using a different computer (one that doesn’t have work on it) to read blogs.  

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Sounds like a good tactic Terre. These days I think we are all “time poor” with too long a list of things to do.

      Since writing this post I’ve been really please with the debate that the post created. It has been ( and continues to be) really interesting to hear different opinions on the issue.

      For myself I am less stressed about it than I was, as there is a never ending list of posts to like and read. I try to read a post from most of the people I follow, but only once in a while, or I would be on my PC 24/7

      Best Wishes and thanks for your kindness and support.
      Happy New Year. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. I am using a new computer to read now and it is making it easier. It has a different browser that allows me to read post in English (I could never find that on my other computer). So I am happy to be able to read post from some of these wonderful people that like my posts, but their blogs are not in English. On a laptop it is much easier to sit and read through a lot of posts! Cheers!

        Liked by 2 people

  20. “Or perhaps they don’t care to join the WordPress “hamster wheel” that can eat up a lot of time, that could otherwise be spent creating.” This question on the post stood out to me. I suppose the answer lies in what your purpose is in subscribing to a particular blog, and where your joy in creating blog posts originates. Some Hamsters ride the wheel thinking they are getting somewhere. Some ride the wheel to stay in shape for a possible escape. And some ride the wheel to beat their PB. Why are you on the WordPress Wheel?

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    1. That is a very good question which I will try to answer.

      I blog because my writing gives me opportunities. I might be invited to judge at a food competition . Or I might be sent a cookbook to review, or even kitchen equipment. My writing occassionally brings offers of food press trips both domestic and abroad.

      Whenever I create content, either on my blogs or my youtube channel I then share my content on my social media channels (facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, Reddit, Pinterest and others).

      So I’m definately on a Hamster wheel of my own making. It doesn’t earn me a lot of money but I like the diversity and learning new things.

      The Hamster wheel I’m on can easily eat up a lot of time, so I have to balance my time spent posting and sharing with the time spent creating.

      Best Wishes
      Kevin 🙂

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