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Facebook\u2019s Like buttons enable multiple data flows between various actors, contributing to a simultaneous de- and re-centralisation of the web. They allow the instant transformation of user engagement into numbers on button counters, which can be traded and multiplied but also function as tracking devices. The increasing presence of buttons and associated social plugins on the web creates new forms of connectivity between websites, introducing an alternative fabric of the web. Contrary to Facebook\u2019s claim to promote a more social experience of the web, this paper explores the implementation and technical infrastructure of such buttons to conceptualise them as part of a so-called \u2018Like economy\u2019.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444812472322","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,5]],"date-time":"2013-02-05T21:36:55Z","timestamp":1360100215000},"page":"1348-1365","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":569,"title":["The like economy: Social buttons and the data-intensive web"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Carolin","family":"Gerlitz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anne","family":"Helmond","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,2,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444812472322","unstructured":"Appelquist D, Brickley D, Carvahlo M, (2010) A standards-based, open and privacy-aware social web. 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