If your work has a tip jar, conventional wisdom tells you to “seed” it.  Before your first customer shows up, put some of your own money in the jar.  When the marginal person sees money in the jar, he’ll feel more obligated to add some.  Your “seed” might even provoke a chain reaction – imagine a world where no one adds money to an empty jar.

Question: Do Facebook “Likes” work the same way?  Does the fact that one person likes something prompt more people to like it?  Is there a chain reaction?  Can you increase your “Likes” (by more than one) by [shudder] simply self-Liking everything you write?