No more Instagram likes?!

Instagram likes are gone, and it’s not the end of the world.

Instagram has removed one’s ability to view how many likes someone’s post has received. Users can still see a list of names of who has liked it, but the numerical value is gone.

The change is implemented at an attempt to get people to focus more on the actual photos and videos being shared, and not on the amount of likes a photo receives.

This seems to be targeted towards younger users, of primary or secondary school age who tend to gauge their popularity/how good looking they are through Instagram likes, and it is affecting their mental health.

I think removing the number of likes is a good idea, and while some popular Instagram users have been sent into a frenzy following the change, I think the younger generations wellbeing sits slightly higher on a scale of importance.

I understand for a growing number of ‘influencers’, Instagram is a source of income for them, causing? The panic, but I mean, I don’t see how removing the ability to see the amount of likes someone else gets affects this so dramatically. Each accounts number of followers are still visible, and I’m sure companies have already determined how to pay their clients for advertising their brands, without needing to be able to see the number of likes it receives.

1. At worst, the influencer can simply send a screenshot of the post and how many likes it has received
2. Companies can determine how popular an account is by the number of followers/ comments to gauge how engaged followers are
3. Or companies could distribute promo codes to influencers and compensate them by how many times their specific code is used
4. You can actually still see how many likes someone’s photo has received if you use Instagram on a laptop or computer (not sure if anyone else in the world knows this since I think I’m the only person who uses Instagram on my laptop. This is due to me deleting the app because of how pointless I realised it is to mindlessly scroll it on my phone).

Anyway, many companies already use these techniques to determine how to compensate their clients, so it’s not like I’m coming into a major breakthrough here, just pointing out that it’s not really a relevant reason for influencers to be causing such a fuss.

While I do understand that removing Insta likes is a big change to something that once seemed pretty essential to the app, like all new updates on social media sites, people will adapt to it and it’ll soon be seen as the new normal.

I recall when Facebook introduced the ability to ‘like’ comments on a post (you used to just be able to like the actual post). Everyone went crazy then too. “Whats next?”, users asked, “BeInG AbLe To ‘LiKe’ LiKes?’. But now we’re all used to it, and it’s weird to think back to a time where you weren’t able to ‘like’ when someone mentions you in a comment. In fact, now there’s 6 different reactions you can choose from to express how that mention made you feel.

Instagram should absolutely be applauded, not critiqued on taking action on what is clearly a very serious issue concerning its use. It disappointing, and honestly a little frightening at how invested people are in using a photo sharing app to validate their existence.

Get a grip, people!