By Jaclyn Okwumabua, Staff Writer
Have you ever been drawn to an Instagram page because of the amount of likes and followers they had? Or do you scale your likelihood of doing business with someone based on the likes they get online? Either way it goes, account users will have to find a different method as Instagram plans to delete the “likes” feature in the near future.
After many rumors swirling around, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri confirmed Nov. 8th that Instagram will be removing people‘s access to see likes on others’ social media posts.
Although followers won’t be able to see others’ likes on the main feed and profiles, the owners still can see their own.
As an Instagram user, the numbers don’t solidify what content I gravitate to. However, it is still too early to determine if the take-away of this feature will bring dramatic change on this platform.
This was in response to the studies that revealed the unhealthy obsession of likes on social media. People tend to delete their pictures on social media if they don’t receive enough “likes” and often compare themselves to others. As a result, it affects their self-esteem.
If Instagram believes they can eliminate attack mental illness with this method, they are wrong. Viewing content from those with the absence of likes doesn’t guarantee a higher self-esteem, especially if one is envious of that individual. Other measures can be status, looks or glamorous lifestyle; It doesn’t take numbers to make one feel insecure.
The focus is to highlight the photos and videos shared rather on how many likes they receive.
However, this experiment brought on mixed reactions from daily users. Some influencers and business owners felt that this may interrupt their business profits they accumulate from the feature. The absence of likes especially pushes business owners to find new interactive approach for followers.
A lifestyle influencer on Instagram Taylor Loren supported their decision.
“If you have to take away a feature to help someone’s mental health, then yeah, they should do it,” Loren said.
Loren also believes that followers will concentrate more on the content rather than being influenced by the number of likes it receives.
Others who handle business on Instagram have a different view of the effects this may bring. Some have expressed concern with Instagram not giving any statistics, a new app may be created to complement this aspect.
Instagram has publically mentioned a majority of sponsorships business owners gain is from the amount of their followers, not necessarily the likes they accumulate per post.
Some owners are connecting this with Instagram enforcing them to purchase ads for more revenue. Some argue this has been the motive since the rise of Instagram. Whatever the case, business owners will have to find a new method in attracting their consumers.
Instagram users in Canada, Brazil, Australia, and Japan experience the app without the ‘likes’ feature.
