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Tim Tebow has done many things in thirty-three years on Earth, though mostly in the realm of athletics. He was a star quarterback in college, he played in the NFL for the Denver Broncos and New York Jets. He then managed to transition to professional baseball, where he's enjoyed some success in the minor leagues for the New York Mets, and has spent a good deal of time in the broadcast booth for ESPN. In 2018, he even waded into the movie industry by acting as executive producer of the inspirational sports drama Run the Race. Now, he appears he might be trying his hand at consulting for social media companies.
Well, at the very least, he's offered a little suggestion to Twitter, while on Twitter. This morning, he wrote: "Would you rather be respected or liked? Imagine if we didn't have 'Like' buttons, but instead, we had 'Respect' buttons. Would you rather have 110 Likes or 34 Respects?"

Here is his original tweet this morning, which quickly gained traction around Twitter.
Would you rather be respected or liked?
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) October 16, 2020
Imagine if we didn’t have “Like” buttons, but instead, we had “Respect” buttons. Would you rather have 110 Likes or 34 Respects?
The question Tebow poses also seems to hold some deeper philosophical meaning to the Heisman Trophy winner. Many of his followers offered simple words of approval of the message. Others, though, had some fun at his expense.
this is the type of post you see on a multilevel marketing scammer's facebook page at 3am
— Simon Girthy (@daggerandpen) October 16, 2020
Why do I feel like you're about to sell me into a pyramid scheme?
— Quinton Reviews ? (@Q_Review) October 16, 2020
I thought you didn’t do drugs
— J O S H part 3 MD (@yungmalatesta) October 16, 2020
110 likes. it's more.
— laser (@bobby) October 16, 2020
Anyone who knows anything about Tim Tebow knows he's a devout Christian. He frequently speaks at churches, as well as commits considerable time and financial resources to Christian charities and philanthropic causes. This is a fact that was not ignored by some people commenting in the thread.
he's just warming up for his "PRAY button" proposal pic.twitter.com/SRnEBXtuPY
— A herd of cats and their pet dog Calliope (@jeffreygrove) October 16, 2020
Several people mentioned a preference for lust, perhaps poking fun at Tebow, who famously maintained he would remain a virgin until marriage. (He married Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters--a South African model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2017--in January of this year.)
I’d rather be horny
— Nixon (@fhnixon) October 16, 2020
Twitter being Twitter means many of the comments got downright weird.
iMaGinE iF wE hAd rEspEct bUttoNs pic.twitter.com/LaxBWv3sgb
— The corpse of James Potter (Voldemort killed me) (@JamesJimmyJim) October 16, 2020
There were also a strangely sizable amount of replies that included references to The Office. Particularly popular was Michael Scott (as portrayed by Steve Carell) musing about whether he'd rather be loved or feared. (His answer: "Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.")
EASY. BOTH. pic.twitter.com/J0HASGqMcm
— blake (@BlakeTheOpaque) October 16, 2020
As of press time, Tebow's post had received more than seven and a half thousand "likes." For now, anyway, we have no idea now many "respect" button clicks it could have garnered.
Twitter has not yet commented on whether it would consider dropping the "like" button for a "respect" option.
About the writer
Jon Jackson is a News Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more