Like: The Button That Changed the World

by Martin Reeves, Bob Goodson

A riveting, insider's look at the creation and evolution of the like button and what it reveals about innovation, business, and culture—and its profound impact on modern human interaction.

"…an entertaining new book by Martin Reeves and Bob Goodson on the origins of the "like" button." — The Economist

Over 160 billion times a day, someone taps a like button. How could something that came out of nowhere become so ubiquitous—and even so addictive? How did this seemingly ordinary social media icon go from such a small and unassuming invention to something so intuitive and universally understood that it has scaled well beyond its original intent?

This is the story of the like button and how it changed our lives. In Like, bestselling author and renowned strategy expert Martin Reeves and coauthor Bob Goodson—Silicon Valley veteran and one of the originators of the like button—take readers on a quest to uncover the origins of the thumbs-up gesture, how it became an icon on social media, and what's behind its power.

Through insights from key players, including the founders of Yelp, PayPal, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Gmail, and FriendFeed, you'll hear firsthand the disorderly, serendipitous process from which the like button was born. It's a story that starts with a simple thumbs-up cartoon but ends up with surprises and new mysteries at every turn, some of them as deep as anthropological history and others as speculative as the AI-charged future.

But this is much more than the origin story of the like button. Drawing on business and innovation theory, evolutionary biology, social psychology, neuroscience, and other human-centered disciplines, this deeply researched book offers smart and unexpected insights into how this little icon changed our world—and all of us in the process.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, History

265 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 29, 2025

Reviews

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hashtag interesting if true: According to this book (starting pg. 77 of my library hardback edition), the thumbs up signal (as it appears online as “Like”, in Hollywood epics about gladiators, and in photos of dimwitted politicians) does not, contrary to popular belief, have its origins in ancient Rome. It is an invention of the modern age, this book contends. The authors made it clear that it is almost impossible to prove a negative proposition (in this case, that no one in ancient Rome ever used it anywhere), but they make a pretty good case from written primary source documents (there are no illustrations from the period, apparently) that Romans did not use the familiar thumbs up/thumbs down signal of today on a regular basis. They instead (so says this book, based on contemporary written accounts) stuck their thumbs out (but not necessarily down) from a closed fist to indicate that they wished the victorious gladiator to stab the prone loser to death or, alternately, tucked their thumbs into their closed fist if they wished the loser to be spared.

The history of the modern thumbs-up/thumbs down gesture is traced back to an 1873 oil painting named Pollice Verso by French painter Jean-Leon Gerome. There is a back-and-white reproduction of the painting on page 87. Maybe I need a new set of glasses, but I found the reproduction in the book a little muddy and difficult to see. Happily, Wikipedia comes to our rescue here. If you click here, you can get a view of the painting in full color (this is one of those moments where viewing on a large-screened, good-quality computer makes a big difference). The screen where you land if you click on the above, showing the whole painting, is the first of eight pictures of the painting. If you click on the arrow on the middle right of this screen, the next picture you will see is an enlargement of the bit of the painting where the “stab-him-to-death” hand gesture can be most clearly seen.

Less than one chapter of this book is dedicated to the topic above, but for me it was the most interesting bit, so I gave it top billing in the review. I found the book to be surprisingly serious and occasionally difficult going for the non-expert in the topics it touches on, including but not limited to coding, behavioral psychology, and marketing.

It’s only 217 pages until the concluding “Timeline of Events in the Development of the Like Button”, so it wasn’t too much of an effort to slog through.

Nitpicking (1): Sometimes the writing could have used a little tightening. It reads sometimes like the authors was dictating and no one was reviewing. As an example, I refer to the use of “we recently caught up with” (pg. 39), “[w]hen we spoke recently” (pg. 41), [w]hen we spoke with” (pg. 148), and “we talked to” (pg. 202). In all of these examples, sentences could have been made easier to read. I will use the first instance (pg. 39) as an example.

LinkedIn was one the last major online networks to add the like button – as late as 2012, a full three years after Facebook. When we recently caught up with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, he explained …

Improved:

LinkedIn was one the last major online networks to add the like button – as late as 2012, a full three years after Facebook. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman explained …

Nitpicking (2): There’s an apparently British idiom (according to one online dictionary) that occurs in this book: “net-net”. I am an American, and also not a business or tech journalist, so this was unknown to me. It occurs on page five, in the rhetorical question: “Net-net, are we better off because we have it in our lives?” I think that there are several completely adequate, commonly-used English words that could have been used in this case, for example, “overall” or “generally”. Maybe that’s not what the cool kids are saying, but I don’t get out much. “Net-net” is also the term for a style of investing, see here.

Perhaps I’m just cranky about this book because, even though I didn’t understand a lot of it, I didn’t agree with the parts that I understood. For example, I felt that the section of the book which explained the Like button’s “cons” was filled with references to peer-reviewed academic journal articles based on meticulous research, but the “pros” section was a bunch of anecdotes of people who claimed the Like button had at some time made them feel good, and the two types of evidence were treated as equal. Furthermore, I feel that the authors – in concert with the spirit of our time – pooh-poohed the possibility that government could have a role in protecting those who have been injured by social media, and implied that the market, acting free of restriction, could correct problems of this nature.

Still, the bit about thumbs-up and thumbs-down was pretty interesting.

[Steve Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have selected this book as Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 4/27, as it stands heads above other recently published books on this topic.

[Crystal Hutchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This nonfiction book is well written with an index and references. Provides an excellent education on the origin of the like button, as well as how it has influenced social networks in the future. Disclaimer: I did receive this book as an early review copy.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Like is a great read for anyone even slightly curious about the history and impact of social media.

Part history book, part psychological deep dive, it explores the influence of the Like button in a way that's both thought-provoking and approachable.

The book is really well researched and well written. It breaks down complex ideas in a way that’s easy to digest for anyone, while still offering fresh insights for those of us who work in tech. As someone in the industry, I found it especially fun to revisit the history of some of the most well-known startups and see how the Like button played a role in shaping them.

I also really enjoyed the chapters that focused on psychology and biology. They gave fascinating context to why the Like button feels so addicting—and answered questions I’ve had about the behavior it triggers in all of us.

If you’re into tech, psychology, or just want to better understand the tiny button that changed the internet, Like is absolutely worth a read.

[Vipul Murarka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can be consumed and enjoyed by people from several walks of life. For instance, someone like me who was genuinely in the topic how a simple button changed the facet of marketing. Or Someone who wishes to understand how innovation works in real life, where a technology is intended to solve a simple problem but ends up having an impact in so many aspects that cant be predicted at all.

This book is well researched and dives deep into the topic right from how it started (the book actually goes back to as long as Gladiators) to where it is headed. The book is written in a manner that it can be read and appreciated by one and all. It might seem a tech book but it covers all nuances such as psychology, history, and consumer behaviour. The authors have constructed the chapters so well that most of the questions that pop up inside your mind, you will realize are somewhat answered in the next chapter.

In fact I could very well relate as well with the writing. As soon as i saw the cover of the book while requesting the ARC, one point which came to my mind was that of the Gladiators who were shown thumbs up/down. i was hoping the book should cover that aspect and it indeed did. It shows that authors have written in a manner keeping the general public in mind.

Reasons for 4 stars and not a perfect 5 are few:
a) there are parts which felt like fillers and the authors are just trying to increase the page length. For instance the initial part of the chapter "Unintended consequences"; some parts of "What happens when you click"
b) I was really hoping to gain insight from the last chapter which is "the future of likes". However, i was slightly disappointed there. Probably, not because authors have not covered it nicely, maybe more so because of my expectations what would happen now after like.

There is one point which I would urge authors to include is that the number of people now liking on social media is going down. A quick prompt on Chat GPT revealed that after 2021, the number of likes on Facebook have started going down. On Instagram also, the number seems to be on the decline. The authors, i am assuming, would have a better insight on this. One of the reasons i presume this is happening is because now the users know that if they like something, their data is being captured. Their friends will get to know what they have liked, they will be shown similar content, their data will be shared with marketers who would then show them similar ads. So probably in the near future, what the tech companies can do (my view) is that if I have liked something, the algorithm can show me similar content (evil necessity) but out of 10 times, atleast twice the algo can show content of the opposing view point. Diversity is really important in life and it might reduce polarization to some extent when an informed "liker" gets to understand other point of view also.

Overall a lovely book which I would recommend to everyone as it not only teaches you about likes but how a technology works, innovation happens and the biology, psychology behind it and ultimately about the unintended consequences which could be both positive and negative. I would like to thank HBR for providing the ARC of the book.

[Steven Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you live in a world of social media — don't we all? — then you might want to get a cup of coffee and sit down with the new book from Martin Reeves and Bob Goodson, 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.

Reeves and Goodson deliver a compelling exploration of one of the most deceptively simple yet transformative inventions of the digital age — the “like” button. What began as a humble thumbs-up icon has evolved into a global behavioral trigger, shaping how we communicate, consume, and connect online.

The book traces the button’s origins from early platforms like Digg to its mainstream adoption by Facebook in 2009 — despite some initial resistance from Mark Zuckerberg, who thought it might somehow disrupt sharing. The authors, both seasoned #business #strategists, use this origin story as a springboard to examine the broader implications of digital affirmation.

Four key themes drive the book:

𝗡𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁. Dopamine-driven feedback loops created by likes link to evolutionary instincts around information sharing and social reward.

𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. Likes serve as breadcrumbs for data brokers, enabling precise tracking of user preferences and fueling targeted advertising.

𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗰𝗵𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀. Algorithmic amplification of liked content can reinforce biases and contribute to political and cultural polarization.

𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆. The "like" button is a great example of how small design choices can yield massive societal consequences.

One critical takeaway from the book... the like button isn't just a tool for engagement, it’s a mirror into our psychological vulnerabilities and a lever for influence. Its ubiquity masks its power, making it essential to scrutinize how social media shapes our behavior and beliefs.

The book is filled with a lot of gems, but one quote stood out to me: “𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘨.”

𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 serves as a timely reminder that even the smallest digital gestures can carry profound weight — and that understanding their origins is key to navigating our increasingly algorithm-driven world.

[Igor Pejic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like is yet another book that illustrates excellently how technological adoption happens. Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, and co-author Bob Goodson, employee number one at Yelp, provide a fascinating “biography” of a single piece of code that redefined the global economy. The authors argue that the “like” button is the ultimate example of how a seemingly minor, low-friction innovation can trigger a massive “feedback loop” that reshapes human behavior, marketing, and the very structure of a tech giant. By tracing the button’s evolution from early versions at FriendFeed and Yelp to its explosive adoption by Facebook in 2009, Reeves and Goodson show how this simple “one-click comment” became the foundation for a giant social media industry, serving as the primary “data fuel” for the algorithms that now govern our digital lives.
For the modern investor, the book’s most valuable insight is its exploration of the “messy” nature of innovation. The authors dismantle the myth of the lone genius or the linear product roadmap, revealing instead a serendipitous process where the most impactful features often emerge by accident or through the recombination of existing ideas. They explain how the like button succeeded because it broke the “1% rule”- the assumption that only a tiny fraction of users will ever create content - by giving the other 99% an effortless way to participate. However, the book also serves as a cautionary tale about unintended consequences. By maximizing for engagement and affirmation, the like button helped build a system that inadvertently prioritized speed over truth and dopamine hits over mental health. It is a brilliant study of how “the smallest things can have the biggest impacts,” reminding investors that the next world-changing signal might not be a revolutionary new platform, but a tiny nudge that changes how we acknowledge one another.

This review is originally published within the Money Book Circle in my newsletter. Sign up here for regular reviews of the hottest books on money and technology: https://igorpejic.substack.com/

[ManOfLaBook.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more reviews and bookish posts visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

Like: The Button That Changed the World by Martin Reeves and Bob Goodson is exactly what it sounds like, a whole book about the “Like” button and its affects on society, Internet commerce, and profiling users.

This isn’t a technology book per se, actually it’s not a technology book at all. The book is mainly about consumerism, marketing, psychology, and business.

I always knew that the “Like” button was more intelligent that it seemed. Not just measuring what one is interested in but also collecting many other analytics. In one of the technology books I’ve read, a whole section was dedicated to it.

The authors, smartly, stayed away from technical/business/medical jargon which makes the book easy to read and understand. The parts I found most fascinating were the ones involving the human psyche as to why this small button had such an immense impact on individuals, and society at large.

The one thing which I think the authors missed was Facebook’s feature to include the like button on external websites which really honed their algorithm and marketing prowess. I always thought that this aspect was a significant change, for the time, and would have liked to see the authors’ viewpoints on it.

Some of the book seemed like a filler, the history of the “thumb up” through the ages was interesting, but I felt it was irrelevant until to the subject. At least until we got to the modem age with an honorable mention to Siskel and Ebert for their “thumbs up/thumbs down” schtick and how it took hold on pop-culture since.

The end of Like by Martin Reeves and Bob Goodson tries to predict what the future holds to the technology which makes us feel good, but also innocuously collects large swaths of information. Like every technology it’s both a blessing and a curse, and will most likely be used to the worst thing imaginable, or one we can’t imagine, while enhancing our lives at the same time.

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chapters 4 and 8 are must reads. These, respectively, provide an excellent summary of what makes the human brain wired for social media engagement through the like button and raise some thought provoking questions on how companies may continue to refine how they learn and monetize our preferences in the future.

The rest of the book was disappointing. Ideas often could have been condensed from 20 page chapters into two page executive summaries without losing any actual [fill in]. The authors often seem to get sidetracked by anecdotes that while occasionally interesting, often seem designed only to show off how knowledgeable the authors are, rather than genuinely extending the depth of the insight. My favorite instance of this is in Chapter 7, where the authors begin quoting lines of Shakespeare in an ostentatious effort to make more poetic a simple dilemma that innovators face in their products having unintended societal consequences.

2 stars - you won’t miss much by skipping this book altogether, except two standout chapters that merit a quick read.

[Rina B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for this free ARC. All views and opinions in this review are my own.

This book was an informative and well-researched account on the origins of the “Like” button and its impact and application in our social lives and in the way we do business and curate our everyday internet experience. I found this book easy to understand, even if it dealt with some technical terms from business, psychology and other related fields. I also appreciated how the authors touched on human psychology / human behavior to explain why the “like” button is has such a powerful impact on our daily lives, and also leaves the reader to speculate and think about the future of “likes” in a world where we become more dependent on others’ reactions for our validation.

[Rob Sedgwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Like button is a classic case of a fairly minor innovation spirally to unimagined consequences. I have written my own 'Like' button, one of millions of copycats, but this book traces back to the very earliest innovators (spoiler: it wasn't Facebook).

It then goes on to look at early 2000s technology where the story begins, before moving on to the ramifications of Like: dopamine hit, hooking into our need to belong, and its role in Information Mining. The future of the Like button rounds it off, and a look at that could replace it.

The book is easy to read; it didn't cover a huge amount of new ground for me, but it is a solid discussion of some of the issues in this area of technology.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not that much into social networks but had never thought about the Like button, how it works and how it can be used "against" the users (while at first it seems to be so "helpful", so "fun").

The psychology/neurology part was really what interested me most. It helps understand why so many teenagers are addicted to their networks.

I really liked the historical part too. It's good to remember that nothing is never the deed of one single person, great things are always something one or several persons improved.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Novel Nook]

DNF- This book offered some fascinating insights into how the “like” button was first imagined, how it spread, and what it has become today. The book explores many scenarios, which at times pulled away from the central story of the creation of the button itself, but the ideas shared were thought-provoking. Reading about the evolution of sites like Xanga, StumbleUpon, and Myspace gave me a wave of nostalgia, and I was surprised to learn that TiVo actually had the first physical “like” button—wow.

Even without finishing it, I came away with a better appreciation for how small ideas can grow into innovations that shape the way we connect today.

I do recommend picking up this book.

[Łukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an interesting read. Not only does it cover background of "Like" button, but also explains how some inventions end up being used in a different way than originally anticipated.

Overall, there is a notable number of anecdotes or digressions, which to me is quite neutral, but surprising. I especially enjoyed the first half of the book.

For cons: somewhat repetitive from time to time. It happens that a person's work gets cited, however with no introduction nor explanation so I had no idea who the person is. Lastly, I wish it suggested what we can do as individual beings to protect ourselves from the potential negative effects described.

[Fang Ruan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I continue to be Martin’s big fan of his books. I particular, I really enjoy the multidisciplinary approach in solving a problem / or an interesting topic and in this case, the like button. From roman history, to American POP culture, to European influence, and surely, the business impact. The book is both entertaining, educational, and with strong business insight!

Look forward to Martin’s new book！

[David Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nichey book on an interesting topic. While I learned something about the like-economy, the pieces on ‘how innovation’ works seemed over simplified and appear to be fillers. The section on the negative sides of the like economy are a bit thin - not well thought out - but albeitly this is a fast evolving space.

[&rea Suven · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing, I guess this is why not everyone with a good idea should be a writer. It read more like a corporate case study stroking egos, it lacked critical edge, substance and has limited scholarship. Very little rigorous and critical interrogation of platform algo culture and its social consequences. Superficial read.

[Russell Chee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The history bits were enjoyable and well-written; the rest was often quite superficial. Very little critical engagement with the impact of algorithm culture on the entire structure of societal interactions today.

[Divyesh Sheth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book on evolution of like button. It dives into anthropological reasons for thumbs up icon for like. It also does a great job of explaining the brain chemistry, psychology of likes and the whole industry sustained by data aggregated from likes. All in all a fascinating book.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is fascinating to know the story of the “Like” button and
how it influences our internet experience in so many different ways. The book provides enough insights on this technology.

[Tom Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its funny the but is calles liked . Writing my review in Goodreads only reminded me on how often i use like buttons, in this case 5 stars

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Interesting but too slow.

[Omar Khedr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into the like button and how it emerged

[Joy Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

LIKE is a brilliant deep dive into the surprisingly complex story behind the Like button. What begins as a simple question—“Who invented it?”—unfolds into a sweeping exploration of innovation, social behavior, and unintended consequences. Blending insights from Silicon Valley pioneers, top academics, and disciplines ranging from neuroscience to medieval history, the book offers a fresh, engaging, and interdisciplinary take on how small ideas can reshape industries and societies. LIKE has a compelling narrative that challenges how we think about technology, connection, and the messy reality of how change really happens - really enjoyed the read and highly recommend it!