When Dean Allen shut down Favrd (a site that collected tweets and ranked the by number of likes), he said this:

"Alas, stars on Twitter have become mere take-out menus hung on the doors of other restaurants."

Meaning that, in his opinion, people were liking tweets simply to get their tiny avatar noticed, and perhaps earn a follow.

I'm trying to be conscious of that here. The fact that there are so few likes going around means each one gets noticed more.

I've definitely hit the star on a few toots and then noticed that person following me a few minutes later. It hasn't been intentional, but I've certainly had the dark impulse to go around, liking things willy-nilly to direct people to my profile.

Obviously it's a strategy that only some people will be comfortable with, and that will only work in the short-term, anyway. But it's interesting to look out for!