Whether it be looking for a place to eat, a country to travel to, baking or fashion inspiration, Instagram has been the number one stop for many individuals. Being an image based platform used to share images of ones life, business, interests and hobbies, Instagram has grounded itself as one of the most used social media platforms on the planet.
Many users on the platform would formerly determine the popularity of an image/post based on the amount of ‘likes’ the image had garnered. But with this amount of ‘likes’ determining ones popularity, also came the insecurity of one posting by some. As of 2019 the platform made the executive decision to remove visible ‘likes’ in order to boost the self esteem of users of the platform; not having to worry or care about how others will see them based on the amount of ‘likes’ they can get on a post.
This massive change has been met with mixed responses with some people going on a twitter rant saying this change was for the ‘snowflakes’ and that it will jeopardise the livelihood of many full time influencer’s.
At first glance, PR representatives may not be able to see the level of engagement of an influencer’s post. However, there are still methods to see a persons level of engagement based on the saves and screenshots of the users posts and stories. One extra step will have to be provided by simply having the influencer providing screen shots of their statistics.
On the flip side, many other users have stated that they feel more encouraged to post as they won’t need to feel compared or insecure about judgement from others. Having a platform where one can share their content without the pressure of thinking ‘am I popular enough?’ or ‘why am I only getting X amount of likes this time?’.
What do you guys think? Has taking away like on Instagram been a positive or negative experience for you?
Kelly's Digital Marketing Blog 
Personally i think that taking away the likes on Instagram is actually a really good idea! I definitely feel much more comfortable and am more open to posting more on Instagram now. Do you think this strategy will work in the long run ?
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I think it will definitely be beneficial for individuals with personal accounts in giving less of a damn when it comes to posting as others can’t see the number and judge you based on that. I think it may be have a negative impact on influencers though as companies cannot see their level of engagement.
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Its a really good idea. It pushes away the mentality that a larger number validates you and invalidates everyone under that. Life should never be a numbers game where it doesn’t have to be. Now that Facebook is trialling the same thing – I think it will be pushed over all the social media platforms. What do you think?
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I love it! Now I’m not constantly worrying that I am unpopular or that people will judge me based on the amount of likes I get.
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