Will you still post on Instagram if they remove likes?

I feel this is a worthwhile experiment since studies have shown how some teenagers are constantly refreshing their notifications to check for engagement and experiencing anxiety. That said, since some people rely on Instagram engagement to make their living I suspect there will be backlash.

It will be the dusk of vanity fair era

Canada was one of the testing ground for this and at first it was a bit of a shocker but eventually it reduced the 'peer pressure' effect of liking already popular photos. When I went overseas and saw the likes again, I did not like it🤷🏿‍♂️

Honestly, I will post even more now. I tested this feature during my vacation in Brazil and not having this ‘like’ count as instrument for validation is actually very refreshing.

The funny thing about this that no one seems to be talking about (afaik): Removing public like counts may have a big impact on the influencer marketing ecosystem (and tools like SocialBlade). With this change, only Instagram and the influencer will see like counts making it more difficult for others to evaluate engagement and source influencers. I.e. Removing like counts benefits Instagram's ad network.

It's been proven that "instagram likes" are basically dopamine hits for your brain. Good for the collective overall, particularly those growing up on IG, I have seen brands that have been shying away from using likes as a significant metric, see Pattern Brands and focus on engagement like shares of posts and comments. Any change that FB, IG does ultimately benefits them, if you follow the people who work in IG departments you'll see the presentations they make to justify the changes such as the algo change and the statistics they use to back it up, even if from a user point of view it's a nuisance, they will effect the changes that increase revenue, encourage the use of ad spending for sure. IG is a millennial playground, I know Genzers are not as engaged as we are with this platform so will be interesting to see how it fairs among their group.

As a business, the likes were mostly vanity metrics anyway. We're really looking at profile views, follows, and clicks to websites. But I would be curious to see how hiding the likes would affect those metrics (if they do at all).

Worth mentioning here that they’re not entirely removing likes, you just won’t be able to see how many other people got...will still be able to like and see how many people liked your post.

This is a new test, and we like new changes. When they remove likes they should include something like views or anything else. What do you suggest?

The scorekeeping ("compare and despair") of social media is just one aspect of how social media preys on our insecurities and worst instincts. When you factor in the business model of attention extraction, and the power of algorithms and outrage to fan the flames, it's a recipe for for social validation addiction and disconnection, to oneself and others. We're trying something different with the Daily Haloha app: anonymous, judgment-free, status-free. We're replacing comparison with perspective, judgment with curiosity, and approval with authenticity. Would love to know what you all think! (we've soft launched in the app stores).