Encouragement by likes, no more!

Instagram is a social media site that requires constant validation and justification from your peers. Not through them texting or telling you about your post. But the justification comes from how many “likes” one receives on a post. The higher that number goes the more validation and justification you might receive. The lower numbers usually indicate a small following.

However, this validation and justification is being brought to a temporary halt. CEO Adam Mosseri announced that Instagram will not be showing likes for some users around the USA as a trial. This is an attempt to counteract the possible addiction to the posting for likes and justification. Instagram has been speaking on possibly doing this for quite some time. With some of their following being completely on board. And the other part of their following feeling as if it is completely unnecessary to do.

There are induvial who receive a larger number of likes. Large enough to make a living off their following on this social media outlet. You could infer that this is the following who is not excited about this change to the platform. This experiment could go either way. The benefits improve self-esteem and create a sense of normality amongst all of its users. The normal platform allows a sense of competition amongst its peers.

Not only does this combat the superficial attitudes people believe it has created. But it is also an attempt to counter act screen time. Something that a lot of parents and individuals are worried about in their children and themselves. Not spending time worrying about who has the most could possibly be an answer to staying off your phone. So, this experiment could work out for the benefit of the company. How it will be accepted will surely be relevant to us sooner rather than later but it is interesting to see a successful company make drastic change like this.

 Or this could hurt their large following. Instagram has been based on this for many years. It is why people are posting. They want a large amount of engagement and justification from the outside world. This is going to happen shortly, how long will this go on is the question that will be answered. Only time will tell, because at the end of the day there a business too and they will make the decision that benefits them the most.

Reference:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/09/tech/instagram-hiding-likes-us/index.html