Via facebook:

Introducing the Like button
Starting today people will be able to connect with your Page by clicking “Like” rather than “Become a Fan.” We hope this action will feel much more lightweight, and that it will increase the number of connections made across the site. Learn more.

Facebook: Making life even more superficial. Our social connections are now more “lightweight.”

So first with News feed, we, as human beings, were replaced by memes. No one has a profile; instead, they have a never-ending stream of narcissistic nonsense. Our personhood is not defined by our interests or activities, but by bits of text that float in the stream.

Now, we no longer even have social connection. We are ephemeral memes connected by lightweight strands of “like.” We went from joining groups, to becoming fans, to merely liking something. Pretty soon we won’t have friends (however diluted that term has already become), but there will just be people that we “like.” Our assimilation into the stream will be complete after that final step. First, you could like bits of text. Now, you can like “pages”. Soon, you’ll be able to like news articles and products and songs. Once you can like people, there will be no difference between you and a bag of Doritos. I like you both, with no indication of degree. Welcome to relationship inflation — as the connections go up, each connection will be worth less and less.

Yes, soon we will all be assimilated into memes in the stream — bits of you intermingled with bits of products. This will be the new form of human connection. Imagine the future: You won’t attend events, you’ll “like” them. Who cares if anyone went? How many people liked it? The best products and the best people won’t be defined by virtue or profitability, but by how many likes they have accumulated.

You + consumerism. Facebook likes this.