Kylikes

Kylikes are a coined term used to describe a proposed form of social media engagement that rewards posts or comments for substantive quality, such as accuracy, civility, and usefulness, rather than popularity alone. In concept, a kylike signals that the content meets a threshold of value and is likely to help others understand a topic.

Origin and usage: The term emerged in online discussions in the early 2020s among researchers and platform designers exploring ways to encourage constructive discourse. It is not tied to a single platform and has not become an industry-standard metric, existing mainly as a theoretical or exploratory concept in digital culture discussions.

Mechanics: On platforms that implement kylikes, a user can grant a kylike to a post, sometimes along with a brief justification. The kylike count is shown separately from the ordinary like count and may feed into recommendations, moderation decisions, or reputation signals.

Impact and criticism: Proponents argue kylikes could promote higher-quality information and more civil conversations. Critics warn that defining “quality” is subjective, that kylikes could be gamed, and that the added friction to give a kylike might reduce overall engagement or privilege already prominent voices.

See also: engagement metrics, online discourse quality, digital civility.