Facebook Inc.’s Instagram is now planning to remove the number of “likes” that are visible on posts for some users in the US. The reason behind this step is to reduce competitive pressure among people on the photo-sharing service.
Instagram to Begin hiding Likes
Since the month of April, Instagram has been hiding like counts in some of its top markets, starting in Canada and then later expanding to Japan as well as Brazil. Talking about U.S. it is one of largest markets of Instagram with more than 106 million users, as per to the data analyst EMarketer.
After announcing the new test at a conference in San Francisco sponsored by Wired magazine, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri told Bloomberg, “What we’re hoping to do is depressurize Instagram a little bit, and make it a bit less of a competition,”
He further added, “The idea is to try and reduce anxiety and social comparisons, specifically with an eye towards young people.”
Users on the other hand are still going to be able to see the likes they get on their posts if they want, but at the same time those metrics won’t be able to get visible to others on Instagram, the company said. Mosseri also stated that the test is going to start next week, and it is also going to impact just a portion of Instagram’s U.S. user base.
Instagram’s follower counts as well as likes have made it one of the top places online in order to compare one’s popularity with others, this can be particularly seen among teens as well as young adults.
On the other hand, the company has tried for years in order to combat the competitive trend by promoting good role models through posts on its @instagram account, expecting to reflect the parts of the app that are about originality and art as opposed to self-promotion.
In support of this step, some of the app’s most prolific celebrities have also said a service without likes might be quite healthier for its users.
Kim Kardashian, who has around 151 million Instagram followers and she regularly receives more than 1 million likes on her posts said on Wednesday at at the New York Times DealBook, “It would be really beneficial,”
She further added, the Instagram team has been discussing the changes with selected users in order to get feedback, “and that makes me happy.”
Not only Instagram but also other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have been at the centre of debate around issues such as smartphone addiction and online health from the past few years. Therefore, Instagram has also announced a feature where the users can also limit the amount of time they spend on the app in a given day.
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