Instagram Likes Could be Disappearing

As early as this week Instagram may begin hiding likes from people’s posts. This is something Instagram has been discussing for a while and has actually been testing in other countries, but now it’s coming to the United States.

There has been a lot of discussion about social media’s impact on mental health, especially for young people. This is one of the largest driving forces behind Instagram testing the removal of likes. During the Wired 25 symposium, Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram said, “It’s about young people. The idea is to try and depressurize Instagram”.

Many people support the idea of trying to reduce the amount of comparison and social stresses often associated with social media, however some are questioning how it will affect people who use Instagram to make a living. Many credit these Influencers with keeping Instagram’s engagement rates high, because people will return to the app daily to see influencer’s content.

Realistically, as long as influencers are able to see their likes privately, then they should be able to share the necessary data with brands they are looking to collaborate with. Thus, it shouldn’t have a huge impact on their overall success, in terms of working with brands.

It will be interesting to see how much of an impact this change could have. From user experience to the much larger mental health implications, depending on how testing goes, this could pave the way for major changes to Instagram, and other social media platforms down the line.