It occurred to me this morning that I love Facebook’s “Like” feature. It’s neat enough to actually make me login to Facebook (usually I just rely on my mobile for FB notifications). Saying you “Like” a newsfeed item is supercheap in every way, but still gets the point across that a friend was in your thoughts at that moment and that you care about what they had to say. It’s enough to start a conversation with, but it’s also fine to just leave it as it is. It’s stress-free. And it’s much, much less sketchy than a Poke.

The lack of hassle required to Like something made me think of other low-cost yet worthwhile interactions. When I was hollerin’ at the Media Lab I saw Blossom, a minimal interaction by Sajid Sadi. Two electronic flowers are linked over IP and can communicate at any distance; when a user picks one up, the other glows wherever it is. There’s no content to the message– just the fact of a thought.

On a related noted, the most common romantic-type txt is “just thinking of you”.

These are all ways we are working towards the much FUDded End of Alone.