Instagram removes likes: why is it necessary and what is fraught for bloggers

It has long been known that following the "Subscriptions" tab, the popular social network Instagram plans to abandon likes. This will happen very soon, because the version of the application without the "Like" marks is already being tested in the United States. Why are the owners of the social network taking such a decisive step and how will those users for whom likes were the main indicator of success feel?

The first rumors that Instagram may remain without "Like" marks appeared back in April of this year. One of the world's leading experts in the field of mobile applications, Jane Manchun Wong, explained this decision by saying that the social network plans to focus on the content itself, and not on its evaluation by users.

In the spring, testing of the new version of the application was carried out in a group of users from Canada, which was then joined by fans of the social network from several other countries located in different parts of the world. But a large-scale experiment began only now, when the program without likes became available in the USA.

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri clarified that likes will not be hidden from all American users, but only some. At the same time, the account owner himself will still be able to see every like and the one who put the mark. This information will be closed only for public access.

Eva Chen, the director of the fashion direction on Instagram, speaking at the Yahoo summit, shared her point of view on an unusual innovation:

But still, this is not the main thing at all. The management of the social network has repeatedly mentioned that one of their main concerns is the preservation of the mental health of users. Unfortunately, Instagram leads among other services in terms of the level of negative impact on the psyche of people.

It has already been officially confirmed that prolonged use of the social network causes a number of different disorders, including depression, a high level of anxiety and a relatively recently discovered condition called FOMO. This word is an abbreviation of the expression fear of missing out — "fear of missing something important." Eva Chen explains this phenomenon as follows:

The first testing of Instagram of the new format in Canada caused very mixed feelings among the audience. A survey conducted among users showed that 34% rated the innovation positively. 35% disapproved of him, and 31% refrained from an unambiguous assessment.

But after the information about the beginning of a large-scale experiment in the United States was published, a wave of indignation rose among American fans of the social network. Especially those who had something to lose, for example, top bloggers and celebrities, were indignant.

For example, pop singer Niki Menage, whose account has 107 million subscribers, immediately said that she refuses to post anything on Instagram because of the cancellation of likes. "Why do I need it now?" the star summarized briefly. There were many other outraged persons known to the whole world.

But Kim Kardashian, on the contrary, approved the rejection of the "Like" marks. She even spoke at the DealBook conference of the New York Times on this occasion, emphasizing that the rejection of public demonstration of likes will be useful for the psyche of many fans of the social network.

Cardi B

The third point of view was presented by Cardi B, who recorded an appeal to the creators of Instagram and users, in which she said this:

It is quite clear that the singer believes that the main evil is hidden not in likes, but in comments, which should also be banned.

Instagram has long ceased to be just an original platform for people to communicate. Today, this social network is a powerful earning tool for a huge number of people. It's not just about bloggers who receive money for advertising someone's products or services, but also about entire global brands that are firmly established on Instagram and leading sales through this application.

The number of likes under the influencers' posts was the main indicator of their effectiveness. In Internet marketing, audience reach is not valued as highly as engagement, which is defined as the ratio of the number of user reactions (likes and comments) to the total number of subscribers.

Is the abolition of likes under posts a threat to business? Eva Chen doesn't think so. To convince others of her rightness, she draws attention to the Stories function, where there are no visible likes and the audience's reaction is not visible. Despite this, it is Stories that have more views today than the posts themselves and people like them more.

Eva Chen is sure that the growth in the popularity of Stories is due precisely to the lack of likes — people are more willing to share their stories without worrying about their evaluation. This is the factor that Instagram executives want to use on a global scale — to make communication on the social network more lively and independent of other people's assessment.

Of course, there is some risk for bloggers, but on the other hand, likes have long ceased to be a real indicator of the quality of content. Even large companies do not disdain to cheat likes, what can we say for ordinary influencers. Companies spend up to a billion dollars annually on cheating, and there is no general information about the volume of this market.

But every Instagram user has probably encountered spam ads offering to cheat followers and these services are quite inexpensive today. One can hope that the "instagram of a healthy person", devoid of likes, both real and "fake", will become more qualitative, lively and interesting.

Maybe the new format of the social network will even help save someone's life, because accidents that occur due to the hunt for likes are becoming more and more every year.