…is this a positive or negative action?
A new test run from Instagram has stopped exhibiting ‘likes’ underneath posts from users in many counties. These countries include Australia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Brazil, and New Zealand.
Why did Instagram opt for this update when the number of likes is so important to fashion brands, influencers, and Instagram users generally?
How Does the ‘new’ Instagram Work?
Instagram users will still be able to see the ‘like’s’ on his or her account. But the followers of accounts and influencers will not be able to see the number of likes on anyone else’s posts.
If you really desperately need to see the ‘likes’ on someone else’s posts you will need to click the “others” list and count the likes yourself.
So, Why this big change?
According to Instagram, they are testing the change because they want followers of accounts to give attention to the photographs and videos posted and not to the number of likes the posts are getting.
Does this demotivate you?
If your answer is ‘yes’ then this small declaration has a lot of hidden meaning. This statement, which a lot of people are feeling, by the way, points to the fact that people have come to care too much about the number of likes and attention any post is getting rather than the post itself.
Some base their life on their ‘likes’ which can be an unhealthy habit
Those who don’t get many ‘like’s’ can be left feeling unloved and lose confidence. Celebrities and influencers naturally get more ‘likes’ because of their status. There are also people are willing to buy ‘likes’ to increase the number of people following them.
Instagram rose to fame as a platform for sharing photos, videos, advice, interesting observations, and motivational advice but more recently had become a race of ‘likes’ for some people.
What does this mean for your business?
The popularity and reputation of any social media account, post, brand positioning or business Instagram Ad used to be judged by the number of ‘likes’ it received. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all currently use likes or followers as a public compass for people to see how popular a business is.
All these likes, shares, followers and comments help the content to spread far and wide, making the brand and business popular. Without these likes everyone is equal, from Nike to the corner shop; now we are all in the same boat as any other business or brand. So in this respect, the initiative has been a positive and created an equal playing field.
Marketing and Advertising agencies, as well as businesses themselves, track their brands, analyse influencers on the count of ‘likes’ they have as well as how many followers engage in and follow their posts.
This makes things difficult to gauge, except for the Analytics and performance of your own posts, brand, products, and business. Some would say that it forces people to operate within their own space and not worry about what others are doing. Others think it will encourage people to advertise on Instagram more not less. Engagement of followers translates to sales, so this is ultimately what the marketing teams of brands look for. With no ‘likes’ to gauge their competitor’s success upon, marketers will be forced to just create good, solid, compelling content for their own brand and use their sales bottom line to gauge success, not the number of ‘likes’ or ‘follows’…watch this space.
