Instagram Is Testing Hiding Your Likes
On Tuesday, the Facebook-owned photo-sharing app announced it is running a test in Canada starting later this week that hides the total number of likes on photos and videos. Likes, which are shown as hearts on the app, will be removed from the main feed, permalink pages and profiles.
While followers won't be able to see the total number of likes a post has received, the owner of the account still can.
You'll still be able to see how many likes your own photo received.
"We are testing this because we want your followers to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get," an Instagram spokesperson said.
The news was announced at Facebook's (FB) annual developer conference, F8, in San Jose.
Source: CNN Business
William Soulier, CEO and co-founder of Talent Village, comments on Instagram’s bold strategy of hiding likes and emphasises that brands will ultimately need to restructure the value behind engagement metrics and invoke the importance of collaborating with true talent on Instagram.
“Digital metrics have allowed Brands to measure the performance of all promoted content on Instagram and ultimately judge the success of their social campaign.
Therefore by Instagram removing a vanity metric such as "likes" on in-feed posts, both users and brands should hopefully become focused on less tangible metrics, but arguably more important factors such as the quality of the content produced.
The problem, as we've alluded to, is that it's very difficult to measure something like "quality", and therefore it seems inevitable that brands will shift their focus to the next quantifiable metric such as engagement. By hiding likes on the user’s feed, Instagram is giving a chance for content to stand out for its quality and not for its engagement.
Ultimately, with the removal of likes on Instagram already in testing, brands will need to realign their affiliation with the right kind of talent; those who match their values and have the credibility to talk authentically in this space.”
Mili Ponce
Keynote Speaker on Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Social Media Strategist, Trainer, Writer, Blogger, Mother, Daughter, Granddaughter, Dreamer.
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Instagram Is Testing Hiding Your Likes
Reviewed by Mili Ponce
on
Thursday, May 02, 2019
Rating:
Reviewed by Mili Ponce
on
Thursday, May 02, 2019
Rating:
Mili Ponce
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