Facebook-owned app Instagram wants to hide likes count on its platform, and surprisingly, the influencer community is not appalled with the changes. In fact, Lauryn Evarts Bosstick boasting an account of over 850,000 followers claimed that the recurrent changes to her Instagram handle does not make any difference in her operations and she does not want to waste her energy fretting over something that she cannot control.
Instagram recently announced that it will be testing a new feature where the ‘likes’ on a photo will only be visible to the account holder and not other users. When the news came out, several tech experts assumed that it would make a difference and even create a problematic situation for the influencers who rely on such counts.
However, several Los Angeles based micro-influencers and other creators around the world claimed that changes like these don’t affect their jobs too much as they will still be able to keep track of the number of likes from the backend.
Candice Nikeia who has over 154K followers says that a major portion of her job is to keep track of the likes she gets on her posts. But after the algorithm change on Instagram, Nikeia says that she doesn’t care much about how many number of likes she gets on her posts.
She also said that the algorithms change frequently and after some hysteria – users get used to it.
Another influencer, Amy Marietta says that removing the like counter will draw more attention to the comments she receive on her posts. Amy who has more than 133,000 followers says that it will ease the mental pressure that many of us have concerning the number of likes and claims that not seeing them will be a good thing in the long run.
Becka Wall, senior manager of social media at the National Alliance on Mental Illness agrees with Amy’s comments and says that social media has a significant impact on the user's wellbeing. Reward systems like the likes and other reaction often increase our competitive spirit, leading to an enhanced desire for more. The comparison game affects the user’s self-esteem, anxiety, and even depression.
Bosstick, on the other hand, says that consuming too much of social media each day is equally negative for mental health. In fact, she says that instead of getting rid of the likes on photos – getting rid of the excessive amount of pictures from feed would help more when it comes to improving the user’s mental health.
Read next: Instagram is Planning to Put a Stop to Like and Follower Farms!
Instagram recently announced that it will be testing a new feature where the ‘likes’ on a photo will only be visible to the account holder and not other users. When the news came out, several tech experts assumed that it would make a difference and even create a problematic situation for the influencers who rely on such counts.
However, several Los Angeles based micro-influencers and other creators around the world claimed that changes like these don’t affect their jobs too much as they will still be able to keep track of the number of likes from the backend.
Candice Nikeia who has over 154K followers says that a major portion of her job is to keep track of the likes she gets on her posts. But after the algorithm change on Instagram, Nikeia says that she doesn’t care much about how many number of likes she gets on her posts.
She also said that the algorithms change frequently and after some hysteria – users get used to it.
Another influencer, Amy Marietta says that removing the like counter will draw more attention to the comments she receive on her posts. Amy who has more than 133,000 followers says that it will ease the mental pressure that many of us have concerning the number of likes and claims that not seeing them will be a good thing in the long run.
Becka Wall, senior manager of social media at the National Alliance on Mental Illness agrees with Amy’s comments and says that social media has a significant impact on the user's wellbeing. Reward systems like the likes and other reaction often increase our competitive spirit, leading to an enhanced desire for more. The comparison game affects the user’s self-esteem, anxiety, and even depression.
Bosstick, on the other hand, says that consuming too much of social media each day is equally negative for mental health. In fact, she says that instead of getting rid of the likes on photos – getting rid of the excessive amount of pictures from feed would help more when it comes to improving the user’s mental health.
- Related: Instagram Influencers Are Winning By All Means; Posted 150% More Sponsored Content Than A Year Ago
Read next: Instagram is Planning to Put a Stop to Like and Follower Farms!
