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The company decided to change the ways of showing social approval of the content posted by its users.
Instagram announced that "the number of likes" will no longer be a way to measure the social approval of the contents which users place in their accounts.
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The company made that decision after the success reached in tests carried out in Australia, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, Italy, and Canada.
The platform explained that the “I like it” is important for many content creators, for it provides information about the value of their work.
By removing the "I-like-it" counting mechanism, Instagram wants people to share their images without getting obseseed about whether or not those images like other people.
Starting today, we’re expanding our test of private like counts globally. If you’re in the test, you’ll no longer see the total number of likes and views on photos and videos posted to Feed unless they’re your own. pic.twitter.com/DztSH0xiq2
— Instagram (@instagram) November 14, 2019
By removing the "I-like-it" counting mechanism, Instagram wants people to share their images without getting obsessed about whether or not those images like other people.
And this is important because the amount of "likes" someone receives may affect that person much more than one could imagine at first glance, especially when the person involved is a teenager.
For some time now psychologists have warned about the negative impact that the "I-like-it" amount has on users' self-esteem. Behind Instagram's decision, however, there is also another motivation.
The company wants to make a strategic change in its business model, something in which Facebook has already taken a step forward after the Cambridge Analytica scandal..
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