Rest in Peace Instagram Likes!

It’s official: some Instagram users in the U.S. will have their “likes” go private this week. While users will still be able to see how many people have liked their own posts, the information will no longer be public. This change was first reported in April. Rollouts in Canada, Japan, Australia, and other regions happened soon after.

Of course, the biggest point of discussion on this move since it was first announced is how hiding likes will effect influencers. Many — including both influencers and those in charge are concerned that a valuable metric for success is disappearing.

Reactions to these trials were mixed. While there was a worry that the removal of public engagement metrics would be damaging for Instagram professionals, such as influencers – whose numbers are an important signal to potential customers or clients – others welcomed the change.

The decision to carry the trial over to the US also follows other attempts to change the nature of conversations on the social media platform. Instagram has previously introduced an algorithm to censor offensive comments or pictures (which is a rabbithole in itself) and a tool that lets users report fake news.

In fact, all of the tech giants seem to be waking up and realising how they’ve contributed to the mess we’re unquestionably in (even if they don’t really know what to do about it). Facebook – which also owns Instagram – has also tried removing engagement metrics, along with YouTube and Twitter.

Source: Dazed

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