Instagram is Hiding our Likes

Photo by Prateek Katyal from Pexels
Photo by Prateek Katyal from Pexels

Instagram recently decided to test out hiding likes and view counts on other people's posts, while only the account user can see how many likes they get.

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, said during Facebook's annual developer conference F8 that, "we want people to worry a little bit less about how many likes they’re getting on Instagram and spend a bit more time connecting with the people that they care about."

The idea has sprung from the overwhelming amount of social pressures, stress, and engagement fixation, that comes with posting online. People are becoming to consumed with getting likes that the very basis of social media is being overlooked. 

When Instagram and other social media platforms were first created they were meant to bring friends, family, and strangers together by building online communities and places to connect.

“We don’t want Instagram to feel like a competition, we want to make it a less pressurized environment,” Mosseri said.

Hiding likes will help users focus more on the content that other's want to share instead of how many likes a post gets.

The only problem that is on people's minds is this effecting brands and influencers. Brands work with influencers on Instagram by judging the amount of engagement each post gets. If this isn't public information then it will make working with influencers harder.

However, what should be kept in mind is that the account user can still see the engagement statistics. A brand will only have to ask for screenshots/proof of the engagement numbers to consider working with a certain influencer.



The test started in the beginning of May in Canada and we are yet to see any results.

What do you all think about this? Is it a positive step forward in the ever growing part social media has in our lives? Or do you think since the account user can still see the likes, it won't make a difference? 

3 comments

  1. They just had this issue on the t.v. again; telling us how this really is becoming a negative way of social media ! People are getting more and more obsessed about getting many many ( likes ) and it is becoming a REAL bad health problem !! Thank you for bringing this subject up !! I hope alot of readers will use this helpful information !!

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