Social Upheaval

Hidden Instagram Likes Could Transform Social Media, And That’s Probably Not A Bad Thing.

- Damien Martin

Over the winter, Instagram rolled out some well-publicised changes to its Australia product, notably hiding the number of likes a post has received from those following the person who posted it. It’s a trial that began in Canada in May and will be rolled out in five other countries, including New Zealand. Instagram said it hoped to “remove pressure” from its users, once again calling attention to the effect social media can have on people’s mental health. Whether the Instagram like change will have a positive effect remains to be seen, but it certainly is true that we have a deep and complicated relationship with social media, as 3.3 billion people have at least one account and the average user spends nearly two hours per day on social media.

Instagram likes

So what exactly has changed? Users can still see the number of likes their own posts have received. Other users will simply see that the post was liked by someone in their network “and others” with no specific number of likes listed. Briefly in August, Instagram likes were completely removed from some posts on the app in six countries including Australia and New Zealand, but the company clarified that that was the result of a bug in the software and not part of the new trial.

“We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love,” Australia and New Zealand policy director for Facebook — which owns Instagram — Mia Garlick said in a statement.

“We are now rolling the test out to Australia so we can learn more about how this can benefit people’s experiences on Instagram, and whether this change can help people focus less on likes and more on telling their story.”