Instagram Hiding Likes - Discussion
You may have all seen that as of last week Australian Instagram users can no longer see the number of likes a post has. Users will now see a user name and "others like this". Users will still be able to see how many people have liked their posts.
Instagram has said the reason behind this change is that Instagram is a place for self expression, not competition. The change comes after growing reports into how social media affects our wellbeing. Many researchers suggest that the impact is negative, particularly when it comes to the mental health of young people using the platform. According to Hack, a recent study in the UK found that Instagram was the worst platform for the mental health of young people. Instagram said this recent update is specifically designed to combat this problem.
Check out the best reactions to this change to Instagram likes here
Is this a good move by Instagram?
We would really love to hear your thoughts.
Comments
I think this is an excellent solution on the part of Instagram. People will continue to worry about the number of likes or subscribers, but not so violently. The developers sort of removed the red rag from the bull's eyes. I don't often sit on Instagram, but a couple of days ago, I noticed this innovation on my own. For me, it even became some incentive to pay more attention to the content on my page. So I used the service https://megafamous.com and plunged into creativity. Although it is unlikely this will solve all the problems teenagers face from watching social networks, it's a step forward.
I don't think so it is the right decision. But I want to know that what is the exact reason behind this?
Hey @Alexson ! I think since this post was made you can now put likes back on for all posts 🙂 The main reason behind the choice however, as was said in this post, was to stop social media from becoming a competition of numbers. A lot of people see likes as a 'tangible' sign of worth. For example, if someone gets twice as many likes on a selfie than another person, that can be taken as them being twice as pretty or popular, in some people's views. For someone who is sensitive to what others think, they may then take this as that person being twice as 'good' or 'worthy' than they are, leading them to have lower self-esteem and to doubt that they really are important in the world. We know that Instagram success is based on many things such as alogrithms and follower preferences, but when it's all reduced to a number value with no explanation, it's hard to recognise that and not take it personally when you see others doing better than you.
I personally have kept likes off because I appreciate all the content on my feed equally, and I see no need to have it 'scored' by popularity. Have you turned your likes back on? How are you finding it?
I also had such problems and it took me a while to search the internet and find out how to fix everything. By the way, I love Instagram I see many ways to make money with it, which is a huge advantage. Personally, since I made my page on Instagram I tried to make it look as beautiful as possible to attract people, and the next important step that helped me a lot was to buy Instagram likes from Socialshaft.com because that's the only way I could reach the recommendations and let the people know about my page.
Excellent topic for discussion @Claire-RO and I think that it was a great move on Instagram's part. Personally, I've never paid too much attention to how many likes I get, but I do recognise that social media can have a negative impact on my/others' mental health, and I'm in favour of anything that could alleviate that. 🙂
I also love this move by instagram! While I do not base my self-worth on amount of likes I get, when posting photos I often did check more frequently to see how many 'likes' I would get in a certain period of time and I know that is not healthy.
I think this move is also great for the younger generation as I know that if I used instagram when I was a lot younger I know that I would have felt that it was a competition between peers on the amount of 'likes' you get.
On another note, I do love the platform that instagram is turning into. While social media can be such a negative place I think it is important to only 'follow' pages/people/influencers who INSPIRE and MOTIVATE you. This year I made a promise to myself that if anyone I follow makes me feel bad or makes me doubt myself in any way then I will remove them from my feed. My instagram feed is now such a positive space and I feel so much better for it! 🙂
Great topic!
I personally think it’s a really great idea. While I don’t really use Instagram much these days, I did when I was younger. And I cared a lot more about likes back then compared to now. It was always a source of stress and anxiety uploading something to Instagram, just hoping enough people would like it. It’s definitely a good thing that people won't have to feel that kind of stress when uploading pictures anymore, they can just get creative and upload the things they want to.
I think it definitely eliminates the element of competition with other users. Not being able to see how many likes another person got will mean not being able to make comparisons. However I do agree with @Maddy-RO all these problems of comparison can also arise with number of followers! At the end of the day, I think that in this day and age, even though it has its problems, social media is here to stay. So I think that even small changes such as this can be a big step forward.
Interesting topic!
I think it is probably a good move by Instagram. I don't personally care too much about likes now, but I was conscious of that sort of stuff when I was younger (Facebook though - Instagram wasn't around (or big) during my early teens). In saying that, I have some friends that will actually delete a post if it doesn't receive enough likes...
I think it'll be interesting to see what happens with the display of an account's followers in future. I'm curious about this because people are pretty conscious about the number of followers they have on Instagram... probably more-so than the amount of likes on their pictures? I think?
Also, I believe there are companies out there that you can pay to like your photos and follow you. I'm guessing they aren't too happy about this change.. haha. I'm personally happy that people won't be spending any more money on paying for Instagram likes now though 
It's basically the same thing, right?
Anyways, What does everyone else think?
Really interested to see the change it will make to be honest! I agree with @Maddy-RO that the number of followers will still be a major point of competition, but maybe it will reduce any feelings of shame or embarassment people feel when they don't get any likes? Maybe it might make people feel more relaxed and like they can just post things that they like without feeling like they're performing for a judge?
It seems really hard to come up with a catch all fix for the issues social media causes for mental health 😞 Because it sometimes feels like there's as many downsides as there are upsides...
On the bright side though, how cool is it that large international owners of social media platforms are starting to have this conversation and make changes? 😄 (although there's an element of them maybe doing it for good PR but imma be optimistic about it :P)
I used to worry about likes when I was younger.. although I never got a lot anyway so I had to come to terms with posting what I like rather than worrying about what others may think. I also never really cared enough to make pictures fit in with the Instagram style as @WheresMySquishy mentioned.. way too much effort for me! These days, I do like getting creative with photos but the intention is not to receive likes. My sibling and I have a bit of a photoshoot.. we find a nice location, do our makeup and wear some cute outfits but it is based around feeling good and having fun with each other. As you grow older and form your own social circles, you learn that you can do and look however you like. The ones who mind, don't matter.. and those who matter, don't mind (as Dr. Seuss says). I think anyway 
This has definitely been the talk this week! While I personally don’t really care as I am not an avid instagram user and even when I do post I’m not affected by how many likes my photo will get. But I totally understand why Instagram have done this. I have seen a lot of “influencers” who have been quite upset by this on Instagram, because I guess Instagram likes somewhat fuel their career, so I can empathise with them. But it’s a very interesting debate and something that I did not see coming.
Personally, I don't use Instagram, so I'm not affected by the change. I don't use it because I feel like it would have a negative effect on my mental health. There is a lot of pressure on it to have a fake life, look a certain way and try to get as many likes as possible. I think not being able to see the likes on other people's posts could discourage users from comparing themselves with others.
