Likes and hearts to the square coming to Instagram

Welcome to another edition of the Fans Week Podcast, also on mediumwaves 1575 KHz for the greater Milan area. From Paris I’m Ami Carter-Wilson.

So, you just posted a picture of your Revox A78 reel-to-reel recorder on Instagram and someone reacts to it with a heart. You see their little red dot beneath the image, want to let them know you noticed the kindness—so you double-tap their heart. Now it becomes a heart to the power of 2.

But now that same person realizes you appreciated their like back, and of course wants to show they picked up on your appreciation — he double-taps again. So the heart is now to the power of 3.

And being the deeply empathetic creature you are you want one more time to let them know you appreciate exactly how much they appreciate that you appreciated their original appreciation — so it’s a power of 4.

But that’s all: Mark Zuckerberg himself has told engineers it’s over.

Nobody can tap a fifth time to say that he appreciate the fact that you appreciate the fact that he appreciate the fact that you appreciate the original heart why? Well he needs to find space for your next ad.

That’s all from today: from Paris, I’m Ami Carter-Wilson.

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About the author

Ami Carter-Wilson

Ami Carter-Wilson is a journalist specialising in global economics and international policy. Her work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, and Project Syndicate. She is the author of Fractured…