Why Removing Instagram Likes Is Actually A Good Thing
The time has finally come for Instagram to take on the altruistic responsibility as social media’s leading moderator. Recent news of the platform trialing an update that hides the vanity metric of ‘likes’ sparked concern for brands and influencers that depend upon that factor alone. Perfecting a method that produces consistently engaging content can seem like a daunting task for those who fear their ability to do so, but eliminating externally-viewable likes, among other things, is intended to deter those people. Removing likes will presumably help to enact a Darwinism theory concept applied to social media, causing those who are actually serious about their growth to double down indefinitely.
Removing a primary feature like this is not done without deep consideration, so, before you re-strategize your entire social media plan or start to picket at Instagram HQ, it’s important to first break down the two primary reasons for potentially removing what many consider to be Instagram’s key metric.
Addressing the contribution to mental health problems is the first major factor in eliminating this feature.
The UK’s Royal Society of Public Health conducted research to establish the primary effects of Instagram on today’s younger generations.
1. Positive
a. Access to legitimate information on health
b. Self-expression
c. Building community
d. Emotional support
2. Negative
a. Anxiety
b. Depression
c. Loneliness
d. Body image
For the majority, these negative effects so greatly outweigh the positive that it seems like a no-brainer to implement change, especially if there is a resolution that solves current problems and maintains the positive impact. For influencers concerned about their source of income depleting, the power of influence and the basic ideologies of the industry are not at stake. The main challenge will be developing more experimental and creative content that truly aims for improving engagement. For some, this means caring more about quality; for others, it means getting more in touch with what their audience is interested in engaging with. With vanity metrics lost, business strategies will be altered.
This leads to the second reason why Instagram would remove ‘likes’ from the public eye.
Instagram is the perfect breeding ground for social experiments, primarily social proofing. “Social proofing” is a phenomenon that occurs when people use the actions of others as a means of affirming “correct” behavior in a given situation. In the case of Instagram, when content goes viral, more and more people tend to double-tap or hop on the virtual bandwagon. Conversely, people withhold engagement, even if they like the content, simply because not many other users are engaging.
Due to this phenomenon, the attention and traffic gathered from larger, well-branded companies and influencers paved a very narrow path for smaller ones to grow on social media. Likes have become all the proof people need to buy into people and products.
So, what about the smaller names with quality content or products that cannot seem to garner the same attention? Their experience with social media can be filled with far more frustration. Therefore, removing likes can potentially direct more traffic to smaller accounts and push more sales to smaller companies.
Encouraging authentic engagement in a less competitive, stressful and vanity driven environment is sure to alter the way we use social media to promote, distribute and engage with people and businesses for the better. Whether you agree with Instagram or not, changes and updates to the platform are inevitable and it is our responsibility to challenge ourselves to find new ways that sustain growth in the ever-evolving social media market.
