[loveMachine]

Automatic like processor

What?

[loveMachine] is a program (or as I prefer to call it, a bot) that will log into a Facebook account, repetitively click the “like” buttons on every possible content shown in the home stream, then post its amazing score as a status and log out.

[loveMachine] is now written in javascript and uses CasperJs. The code is shared on Github

[loveMachine] is a piece of software art by @xuv

Why?

The “like” feature is what we know Facebook for. It's a symbol of it. It might be what describes it the most. It is its own metaphor. It is also used by everyone (at least once). And everybody likes to have a “like” on their post. Some people even “like” their own posts, which annoys others… (but that's another story).

There is no “dislike”, which some people have tried to bring in. But there is an “unlike”, if you changed your mind or clicked too fast.

A “like” is not a comment (in the Facebook sense). Though it can have different meanings and be used as “I read”, “I saw”, “I agree”, “I'm watching you”, “I'm here”, “I wish”, “I buy”, “thank you”,…

And surely Facebook uses this feature to profile their users and have them engage with advertisers or any kind of merchants.

So, because I have so many fb_friends I want to please and so little time, I've decided to automated my “likes”. So Facebook will have to deal with it (whatever that means) and my fb_friends will be comforted that what they do is right. And I couldn't wish them better.

This project was inspired by (and is a response to) a workshop with moddr_, the creators of Web2.0 suicide machine

Do you need a reason to run it?

You already like everything your friends post on Facebook. This will

You want attention from your friends. By liking everything they do, they'll notice you.

You are concerned about your privacy and would like to insert false preferences in your Facebook profile.

You think Facebook is stupid by letting you do this. And you like making Facebook look stupid.

saves you time.

You think you can get a higher like score than someone who used the software before you.

You just like free stuff.

Installation

The actual script has been tested on debian.

You will need:

[loveMachine]

Casperjs

Phantomjs

Node

A facebook account

Usage:

caserjs loveMachine.js --email=<fb_login> --password=<fb_password>

Links

[loveMachine]

Extra notes (Random stuff used during the developpement of this project)

Journal (A time track of this project)

Somehow related projects around the net

Real world FB Like Button

FB app that generates fake conversations by Stuart Starr

FB wall flodder

Status Shuffle

Faceleaks by Dušan Barok

Naked on Pluto by Aymeric Mansoux, Dave Griffiths and Marloes de Valk

Face to Facebook by Paolo Cirio and Alessandro Ludovico

Pleaselike.com by Rafaël Rozendaal

rep.licants.org by Matthieu Cherubini

FBResistance by Tobias Leingruber & F.A.T.

MyMinimMaxiLoveLife by Laure-Anne & Bénédicte Jacobs

Facebook Demetricator by Benjamin Grosser

Mechanism of Love

Twitter Happiness bot

Thoughts & observations

Although Facebook, in their attempt to prevent spam, seems to put a limit on the number of comments or wall posts you can make during a certain period, they do not seem to prevent compulsive liking behavior.

Most people who have heard about this project appreciate the idea and find it fun and/or interesting, but almost all of them would not run this piece of software on their own account. The main reason is that it “likes” everything. And the idea of “liking” something they would not “like” is problematic. Unwanted likes would be:

liking racist content

liking a depressive statement, a call for help or a health problem

liking something that does not reflect your personal preferences

Even if most people will say the contrary, this proves that we identify a lot with our Facebook profile. And anything that interferes or tampers with it would be seen as unwanted (if not aggressive) behavior.

A list of words that people used to describe the project:

Face-bot

StatEthique

Like machine

Likespam

Likematic

Quotations

“[Facebook], c'est de l'exhibitionnisme. Autant montrer ses organes génitaux!” Jacqueline Harpman (Écrivain et psychanalyste) - Le Soir 09/11/2011

“Ce n'est pas la même chose de 'follower' (suivre) sur Twitter que de 'liker' (aimer) sur Facebook. Le lien est plus affectif. L'audience est aussi plus captive.” Conseiller de Nicolas Sarkozy

Future?

Some thoughts regarding the possible evolution of the script:

Like ads? pages?

Turn it into a one-click-setup-and-play application