I’m not fully convinced by this. A like serves as an acknowledgment that you’ve heard someone. Maybe what they’ve said doesn’t meet the bar of requiring a value exchange, but at least you can signal that you’ve heard them. It’s better than being ignored completely- something that should only be reserved for trolls
Discussion
The effect of your like on the person who's note you liked (this thing is good, make/do more of it) isn't as important as the effect of the like on others who are being signalled to pay attention to the thing.
I almost feel like likes should only be visible to the author and zaps are public since the signal isn't free.
The real issue comes when likes are used as part of ranking algorithms since they can be farmed.