No more living for likes

Correct filter, witty caption and let's say an hour later the photo can go on Instagram. And then the waiting for likes begins. Sometimes they come flying in, sometimes you wonder where they are. Sounds familiar? Instagram is going to do something about that: in Australia, a trial starts where likes on Instagram are no longer visible to others.

Instagram explains that it wants to shift the focus of a post, it should be more about telling the story and less about popularity and thus the number of likes. Because even though it can boost your self-confidence enormously, it also makes it miserable when the likes are lacking. Especially among young people, where it has a lot of influence on their mood. The trial is currently running in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand. Do you use Instagram for business? Then it remains visible as usual.

It seems that Instagram a.k.a. Facebook is increasingly realizing that they need to take on a societal role. They also plan to implement a feature that counters negative reactions No more living for likes, how refreshing is that?

We’re currently running a test that hides the total number of likes and video views for some people in the following countries:

✅ Australia
✅ Brazil
✅ Canada
✅ Ireland
✅ Italy
✅ Japan
✅ New Zealand pic.twitter.com/2OdzpIUBka

— Instagram (@instagram) July 17, 2019