Instagram is indeed serious about hiding the total number of likes on photos and videos posts on their app.
Back in May, the photo-sharing app confirmed they’re testing by removing the number of likes in Canada. Now they have included more countries; Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand.
This means the number of likes for a post will be removed from the main feed – and followers will not be able to see the number of likes a post received, only the account owner will be able to.
While many conclude a huge number of likes as fame/popularity, the company reveals that by implementing this, they want users to focus more on the quality of content shared on the platform rather than the number of likes.
We want your friends to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get. You can still see your own likes by tapping on the list of people who’ve liked it, but your friends will not be able to see how many likes your post has received.
The idea is also regarded as a solution to the pressure of social media and receiving more likes for posts. It is known that Instagram is one of the most addictive social media platforms and has the ability to create mental health issues.
“For teenagers, this is great because it would no longer highlight levels of popularity of themselves against other kids,” said Randi Priluck, a professor and associate dean at Pace University focused on social media and mobile marketing.
“But they’re still going to see their own likes. People are very driven by rewards so they’re still going to be competing for those likes. It’s not going to fully solve the problem.”
It’s not yet confirmed if Instagram will implement this for most users around the world or not. So stay tuned for an update on this post.
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