On the 14th of November last year Instagram announced a worldwide test in which it is set to hide likes for a post that appear on users’ feeds. A move that has been received with a lot of controversies. This was not the first time the Facebook-owned social media giant was running these tests.
Since July the same year, Instagram has been running similar tests that have affected users’ posts in Japan, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Brazil, Ireland and a small portion of users in Canada. The move has been received with mixed reactions; nobody understands why while several people aren’t happy about the move. Many people ask will it be worth gaining more likes on Instagram via brand promotion and ads in the future?
So, Will Instagram remove likes from posts in 2020?
Recent announcements from Adam Mosseri, Instagram chief executive officer indicates that the company is not stopping any soon. They are rolling out tests of what they are calling ‘private like counts’ to cover other countries including the united states where a small portion of users have been affected by the recent tests.
Unless you aren’t using Instagram for marketing purposes the news should not surprise you. But for marketers, this is quite shocking. Likes have played a key role in their marketing strategy cutting them out isn’t something small.
But why is Instagram shutting its doors to likes?
Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have been the center for heated debates like inline addiction, smartphone addiction, online insensitivity, and other online related issues for a while now.
As a result, many social media platforms including those mentioned above have made it their priority to combat the vices in an attempt to hit a balance between user engagement and growth over the perception that they are leading causes of online related problems.
Combating online related problems seems to be the motivating force behind this move. As CEO Adam Mosseri explains, the whole idea behind limiting likes to the owner of a post is to try to depressurize Instagram. They are trying to make the platform less competitive, and try to give users a chance to focus more on connecting with people as opposed to concentrating on how many likes they get.
Another reason for this move affects the users, Instagram explains that by cutting out likes, users will be inclined to focus more on the content being posted as opposed to how many likes the content has gained. What is the implication of the same?
The move has impacted both the viewer and the content creators. Certainly, it takes power from fake users who buy likes and gives it to content creators. Content creators will now have an upper hand on the platform since you will only get followers if you have something to offer to the audience.
Will this move have an impact on my business?
The move will affect influencer who are starting out but as I said earlier if you are on Insta as an influencer or marketer you will need to be extra creative to get attention. For marketers, the movie will have a great impact on your business if you have been depending on bought likes.
Otherwise, you will be able to see the number of likes you garner but your followers won’t see them which has no huge impact on business.
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