SPOS #991 – Bob Goodson On The "Like" Button (And How It Changed The World)
Release Date: 07/06/2025
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info_outlineWelcome to episode #991 of Six Pixels of Separation - The ThinkersOne Podcast.
Bob Goodson is President and Founder of Quid, an AI-driven company whose models are used by a third of the Fortune 50. Before launching Quid, he was the first employee at Yelp, where he witnessed (and helped shape) the birth of the like button. Bob’s academic roots in language theory (Oxford) and his deep curiosity about patterns of innovation led him to co-author Like - The Button That Changed The World, an illuminating book about how a simple social media feature rewired global communication and commerce. In this episode, we dig into the origin story of the like button and its unintended consequences - from how it shaped the social graph into a tool of surveillance capitalism, to the unintended shifts it created in digital identity and culture. Bob shares insights into the “arms race” of social engagement, the design intentions behind digital signals, and the eerie power of such tiny UX decisions to shape massive behavioral patterns. We also discuss TikTok’s model of engagement, the overlooked nuance of the thumbs down, and the responsibility of technologists in shaping society. For marketers, platform builders and cultural observers, this conversation is a deep dive into how the smallest code fragments can shape our biggest societal shifts. Enjoy the conversation…
- Running time: 52:16.
- Hello from beautiful Montreal.
- Listen and subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.
- Listen and subscribe over at Spotify.
- Please visit and leave comments on the blog - Six Pixels of Separation.
- Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.
- Check out ThinkersOne.
- or you can connect on LinkedIn.
- ...or on X.
- Here is my conversation with Bob Goodson.
- Like - The Button That Changed The World.
- Co-Author Martin Reeves.
- Quid.
- Follow Bob on LinkedIn.
Chapters:
(00:00) - The Birth of the Like Button.
(04:02) - Evolution of User Interaction.
(10:05) - The Emergence of Data Graphs.
(14:59) - The Role of Thumbs Up and Down.
(20:13) - Cultural Impact and Manipulation of Engagement.
(27:03) - The Evolution of Social Media Strategies.
(30:12) - The Arms Race for Attention in Social Media.
(36:34) - The Impact of the Like Button on Identity.
(41:43) - Regulation and the Unintended Consequences of Technology.
(50:10) - Long-Term Perspectives on Technology and Society.