"Oh, that's weird- Janine 'liked' one of the photos on my Instagram. I've never even talked to Janine! Like, why would she 'like' one of my photos?"
As an Instagram and overall Internet enthusiast, I know I've had this thought cross my mind on more than one occasion. Oh, the ethics of social media — the elephant in the virtual rooms of our profiles that we like to pretend don't matter, but actually do. Have you ever had someone like one of your photos and think that it meant they must LIKE YOU like you (OK, I admit, I'm guilty of this too)? Since the like button is in the shape of a heart, it must mean that they heart you in the real world, right?
If there's one lesson that's important to learn to avoid a potentially awkward or embarrassing situation, it's that Instagram likes actually probably don't mean that much, if anything. The person that liked your photo probably liked 100 other photos that day that don't belong to you. Instagram likes are kind of like smiles — you probably give them to others without really thinking much about it.
This video shows one man who apparently missed this lesson and started to plan his wedding to the aforementioned Janine after seeing that she'd liked one of his Instagram pics. Watch it if you want to laugh at the absurdity, while also patting yourself on the back for avoiding this faux-pas (or not).
