By default, all WordPress.com blogs display the Like button controls on the top navigation bar and under each post, as well as, the display of a gallery of corresponding Gravatars. We can use the display of like buttons on posts to allow other members of our WordPress.com blogging community to signify their appreciation for our posts. We can access the like button on either the top navigation bar or just below the social networking sharing buttons below posts.
Those who do not want to use this feature on their posts can disable it on this page Settings > Sharing.
The like feature became available last August:
Starting today you’ll notice a new feature at the bottom of all WordPress.com blog posts. We’ve enabled a “Like” button, which, when clicked, shows a Gravatar image for all the bloggers who like a post. Like a Post? Well Then, “Like” It!
If we are using the feature then to review all the WordPress.com posts we have liked, we click the Following tab on the WordPress.com home page (be sure you’re logged in first), then select the Posts I Like filter.
Yikes I can’t “unlike” a post!
This August changes were made and as a result some bloggers discovered they were unable to “unlike” a post they had “liked” accidentally. There were many (3 pages) of forum threads alerting Staff to the problem.
Howdy all, thank you for reporting this. It is not possible to “unlike” a post at the moment, however, our team we’ll be looking into adding that functionality. We don’t have an ETA for that at the moment, but do appreciate your input so far. Thanks in advance for your patience!
jenia
Happiness Engineer
Aug 18, 2011, 12:01 PM
“Unlike” a post functionality restored
The good news is that Staff have now restored the ability to unlike a post we accidentally liked. That means those of us who made the embarrassing fumble of clicking the like button on one our own posts can now eliminate the evidence. :D
You should now be able to unlike a post by clicking on the “Liked” button inside the content area of the post.
designsimply
Happiness Engineer
Sep 4, 2011, 7:07 PM
Have you ever “liked” one of your own posts? Come on now ‘fess up.
Yes, I liked my very first post. Since then, I am so aware of not pressing it on my posts because it just seemed weird to like your own stuff like that. Although I’ve seen some people do it and I don’t think it is an accident. But seeing others liking their posts doesn’t seem that odd. I’m so conflicted :)
I also clicked “like” right after this feature was introduced and I tried the “reblogging” feature. That’s a long story you can read here. Thumbs down on WordPress Reblogging > http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2010/06/02/thumbs-down-on-wordpress-reblogging/
Ever had Like spam? I get a few obvious ones from time to time. Is it possible to unlike the Likes of spammers?
Hi there Ian,
You must contact Staff to be shed of like spammers just as you do to get rid of referrer spammers.
All thats missing now is a belly button. Something fun to poke.
Ha! The day WordPress.com introduces “poking” is the day I will arrange to move my blogs into self hosted WordPress.org installs.
I am ambivalent about the ‘like’ feature. After all, only wordpress users can see it, can they not?
Yes, only WordPress.com users who are logged into WordPress.com can see and if they wish use the like button.
Glad to hear they’ve restored the “unlike” function. Thanks for letting us know. And even more happy news, it’s also now possible to remove “favorite” forum threads! Thanks for making me check. :)
Hi Jennifer,
Yes the “unlike” function has now been restored. :) I have always been able to remove favorites from forum threads on my profile page. However, I rarely have the the time to do so. I probably have hundreds of threads marked as favorites by now. When I have the time I will remove the designation.
I like the ‘like’ function. It lets me tell people that I read their post, even if I don’t have a comment to add.
I feel the same way about the “like” button now. I spend a lot of time answering support forum questions. As a result I’m always behind when it comes to blogging and commenting and answering comments on my blogs. I use it when I read a comprehensive post and appreciate it but have nothing meaningful to post into a comment box. I also use it when I appreciate a post but anything meaningful I could have submitted as a comment has already been submitted by another commenter. Wehn I use the “like” button I usually also use the share button for Twitter as well.
I almost always click the like button on my own posts. I do it because I am proud of what I write and there is nothing wrong with feeling satisfied at the work of ones own hands. Also it helps others to follow suit.
It’s kinda fun to see how many likes and avatars can line up beside eachother.
Though sometimes I click like on others blogs that I read but didnt comment on, just so I can let them know I was there and read it.
Hi there,
I had never thought of that angle ie. clicking ‘like” on my own posts to encourage others to do the same. As for clicking like on posts on other blogs when I have read posts but didn’t comment on them, we are on the same page. :)