Instagram influencers must’ve thought that it was some sort of sick belated April Fool’s prank when news first leaked about Instagram testing out a new update where likes are hidden. I mean, the words ‘Instagram’ and ‘likes’ are synonymous with one another.
“Ha ha good one Instagram, you totally got me! Best April fools prank everrrrrrr!”
Instagram wouldn’t possibly hang influencers out to dry like that, would they?
Well, it turns out they would. In this ‘woke’ day and age where one can be blamed for literally just existing, Instagram is leading the charge of social media companies who are looking to be more accountable for the health and interests of their users.
“We will make decisions that hurt the business if they help people’s well-being and health,”
“The idea is to try to depressurize Instagram, make it less of a competition and give people more space to focus on connecting with the people they love and things that inspire them.”
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri
With that narrative in mind, The Facebook-owned service has announced that it’s rolling out its hidden like count test worldwide. Instagram had actually rolled out the test in the USA last week following successful trials in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand. As you can probably tell, Instagram feels that the trials are going extremely well.
Starting today, we’re expanding our test of private like counts globally. If you’re in the test, you’ll no longer see the total number of likes and views on photos and videos posted to Feed unless they’re your own. pic.twitter.com/DztSH0xiq2
— Instagram (@instagram) November 14, 2019
As you would expect when one of your biggest fears quite literally manifests itself as a reality, many influencers have expressed their displeasure at the development. All those sponsorships they worked so hard for are now potentially under threat. More importantly, how are PR agencies going to measure an influencers engagement rate now?! The whole equation was built with the assumption that likes are public. My, oh my, what a disaster.
That being said though, Instagram did address the issue in a tweet, tweeting that they acknowledge how important like counts are for creators and that they are “actively thinking through ways for creators to communicate value to their partners.”
In addition, we understand that like counts are important for many creators, and we are actively thinking through ways for creators to communicate value to their partners.
— Instagram (@instagram) November 14, 2019
So it’s not all doom and gloom. Whatever it is, 2020 is shaping up to be a crazy year for sure. Personally, I think it’s a great move. Instagram can be pretty toxic sometimes and hiding like counts is definitely a great first step in making the platform a whole lot more wholesome.
