Instagram is planning to Hide the likes on the various posts on the photo-sharing site from this week. The company has decided to make this massive change to clamp down the increases in competitiveness amongst the users.
Instagram Hiding Likes to Depressurise the Photo Sharing App
The change will be an initiative for the select US accounts first. Instagram will start testing hiding likes. The decision was announced by Adam Mosseri, who wrote it on a Twitter Post and in an interview with WIRED25.
Increased Competition on Instagram
The Photo Sharing app has become increasingly popular amongst the youth in the past few years. It has surpassed many social networking applications. However, it has also created a lot of social competitiveness amongst the youth about whose posts get maximum likes.
The Head of Instagram expressed that the “The idea is to try to ‘depressurize’ Instagram, make it less of a competition and give people more space to focus on connecting with people that they love, things that inspire them.”
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In another platform, Missouri said that the Instagram team does not want the app to be a competition, and they want it to be a place where people use their energy to connect with others. People should spend time on the things they actually care about.
Similar Tests Done Across Other Regions
The company has also run the same kind of tests in various countries like Australia, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand. Instagram has already made some user-related changes, like the removal of the Instagram Activities feed. The app has also introduced a timer that indicates the time spent on the app.
Step Appreciated By Other Leaders
While some users have condemned the company’s action to hide likes, Industry Pioneers have welcomed the measure. The CEO of Twitter has also Retweeted the announcement by Mosseri by calling it a Great Step.
Likes Still There But Hidden from Other Users
The like feature, which is shown with the Heart Icon, is still going to be there. However, only the user who posted the picture will be able to see it. Thus the Instagram Likes would not be visible to other followers. It alleviates the pressure on the different users from the stress of getting more likes on the posts.