Likes UP:  Love, Like, and Popular Candidates

Whether you are a politician clamoring for votes or an unpopular child in the schoolyard, the reasons you are liked or not liked have the same root.

There is a social component to liking and being liked.

It can be weird body movements, comments made at inappropriate times, or the feeling that you are a “show-off” or talk “at” people instead of with them.  When you are rejected by your peers as a child you can become an outcast and a social failure.  Socially clueless kids can get help when they learn what is socially acceptable behavior.   

Garcia Winner says: “Concepts like how to share, how to co-operate and when to say the expected thing are complicated and sophisticated ideas. Some children may need more help understanding these concepts than others. Their brains may not be making all the connections. They know why they like other children, but they may not realize what they are expected to do for other children to like them back in return. Yet even if they don’t get it by intuition, we can teach children how to be ‘social detectives’ – to think about how others see them and to use their eyes, ears and brains to learn what is expected from them. Simply teaching kids to turn their body and shoulders towards the group can be enough to let others know they want to be accepted.”

Mitt Romney on Time magazine cover: The $64,000 question

On the social networks, politicians want to know, if you go to their fan page on Facebook or another webpage,  When You “Like” A Politician, Does That Mean You’ll Vote For Them?  Here’s an archive for Who likes politicians? Does having more Facebook fans than your opponent equal a win in November?

And when it comes to the government there is a “A Bureaucrat Even a Politician Can Love.”  Washington talks about getting rid of waste. Inspector General of the Health and Human Services Dept. Daniel Levinson actually does it.

A few definitions of LIKE from various sources:   v., liked, lik·ing, likes.

• To have an inclination or a preference: If you like, we can meet you there.
• To find pleasant or attractive; enjoy.
• On social media, to LIKE is to agree with, to vote, to recommend, to share, to

Like kids wanting to be liked at school, Cynthia Boris says, liking on social networks is  like a “huge, high school lunchroom. People come in and they want to sit where they feel the most comfortable. Some will choose the cool table, others hang with the jocks and for many, the geek table is the place to be.”

People like the Like button –  with 50 million links being Liked each day is an endorsement of the fact that LIKE is here to stay.   Whether you are a politician or a business, proper use of social media, can really work to bring your voters closer to you or to drive revenue. This should be at the heart of every social media strategy and  decision to place a new find us, follow ,  Like, +1 or  button on your website or marketing campaign materials.

Judith Orloff asks political candidates to be loving people in all our affairs and suggests 7 Compassionate Vows for Political Candidates.

Hate not really the opposite of love but used in smear campaigns often focuses on private affairs of politicians. It has been asked, “Should We Care About Politicians’ Love Lives?”  And by love they mean allegations of sexual improprieties.

Love and Like are often connected to romantic love and intimacy in a couple’s relationship.  Here is a poem on Love and Like:

Difference between the one you “Love” and “Like“

In front of the person you love, your heart beats faster.
But in front of the person you like, you get happy.

In front of the person you love, winter seems like spring.
But in front of the person you like, winter is just beautiful winter.

If you look into the eyes of the one you love, you blush.
But if you look into the eyes of the one you like, you smile.

In front of the person you love, you can’t say everything on your mind.
But in front of the person you like, you can.

In front of the person you love, you tend to get shy.
But in front of the person you like, you can show your own self.

You can’t look straight into the eyes of the one you love.
But you can always smile into the eyes of the one you like.

When the one you love is crying, you cry with them.
But when the one you like is crying, you end up comforting.

The feeling of love starts from the eye.
But the feeling of like starts from the ear.

So if you stop liking a person you used to like,
All you need to do is cover your ears.
But If you try to close your eyes,
Love turns into a drop of tear and remains in your heart forever.

– Author Unknown