Hi Michael, this is my personal opinion, so don’t take it as absolute facts:
There’s nothing wrong with getting people to like you in itself. It depends on why you’re doing it. If you’re doing it to use other people, or motives arising from self-love or vanity, then that is wrong.
If you’re doing it to make friends, getting to know someone else that’s fine. For example, an easy way to make someone like you is to genuinely smile at them. Humans are social creatures by nature, so we want to be “part of the pack” and feel included. By smiling, we’re giving them a sense of welcome and openness. This would also cause them to like you. Nothing wrong with this, unless – as mentioned before – you’re doing it for evil intentions I.e getting someone to like you to use them.
I wouldn’t consider getting people to like you “manipulation”, unless you’re deliberately manipulating their feelings to suit selfish purposes I.e getting on someone’s good side so you can take advantage of them