Hi everyone! Welcome to The Conversationalist. Thank you for being a part of this journey to unify the world! We are a brand new content platform designed to empower you, yes you, to have conversations that matter! Each week we are going to introduce a new topic of conversation that we, as young adults, need to start talking more about! So let’s get this convo started! Each Monday, we are going to start you off with The Sophie Six to give you all of the essentials that you need to navigate our weekly topic.
Here’s what you can expect:
1. Info about the topic so you know exactly what we’re talking about
2. Other perspectives to consider so you can engage with multiple POVs
So what are we talking about this week?
This week we’re diving in to Instagram’s new pilot feature of hiding the ‘like count’ on the platform, designed in the hopes of improving our mental health.
To catch you up to speed:
Instagram, in April 2019, announced that they are planning to trial a new feature of hiding ‘likes’ on a photo that is now being piloted in 7 countries around the world. The feature is trying to improve user experience on the platform, and here's how it works. You will still be able to see the number of likes you receive, internally, but your followers won't. This might be in response to recent studies suggesting that seeing notifications, especially from ‘likes’, releases dopamine (a.k.a. the ‘feel good’ feeling) in our brains. A 2017 UK based study found that Instagram is ‘most detrimental to young people’s mental health’ social media platform for young adults.
So, here are the six things on my mind:
1. We’re Breaking Free
Many people are excited that Instagram is making an effort to combat social media’s negative effects on mental health. The New York Times believes that hiding ‘likes’ will make Instagram “less competitive, less pressurized and more personal,” and even celebrities like Troye Sivan were praising the feature:
2. "Can this be Optional?"
Some people were not pleased, to say the least, saying that the feature should be optional and users should have the choice in the matter. Just as Instagram’s ‘close friends’ aka private story feature is optional, perhaps so should the ability to see or not see ‘likes’. The content users put out is entirely their choice, so doesn’t it make more sense that ‘likes’ are hidden by choice?
3. No one’s Getting Rid of The Highlight Reel
Other people were skeptical of the trial feature, mainly because they don’t believe ‘likes’ are the problem when it comes to social media’s negative effects. They think that the real problem is how Instagram makes us constantly compare ourselves to one another, because all we see are each others’ highlight reels. Like a ‘best of’ montage, this only allows us to see unrealistic portrayals of our everyone else's life, and mistake it as reality.
4. We’ll find other ‘yardsticks’ to measure up
Some think that removing visible 'likes' might even fuel a greater culture of comparison as influencers get more creative in order to overcome their lack of ‘likes’. Some 'Instafamous' figures, like Jem Wolfie, a fitness model who operates an Only Fans account, recently captioned her photo with “1 comment = 1 like” in an attempt to secure recognition, as likes are already being piloted as removed where she lives.
5. It’s BAD for business
To say influencers are not over the moon about this new feature is an understatement. Influencers’ livelihood comes from the number of likes, shares, and comments they receive on a given post advertising a sponsored product. In fact, the influencer marketing industry is estimated to be worth around $15 billion by 2022 and in 2019, is currently sitting at $8 billion. ‘Likes’ are influencers’ currency for success and taking that away could potentially rob them blind.
6. Who’s Next?
Hiding ‘likes’ seems to be trending! Facebook announced last week, in September 2019, that they are planning to ‘follow in Instagram’s footsteps’ and hide ‘likes’ on posts and profiles to help improve the user experience on the platform. Does this change the conversation when it comes to Facebook? Is it the same as removing likes on Instgram or any other platform? Who do you think will be next?
What are your thoughts? Do you think Instagram’s new feature of hiding the number of likes a photo will positively affect our mental health? Do you think the new feature will impact the user experience on Instagram? Do you think it might have an impact on our mental health at all?
Here's the fun part! Let us know what you think by filling out this form! You can submit questions for our expert, Jessica Abo, and you can share your POV about the topic!
Share your thoughts below or Tweet us where you stand! You can also reach out to us via DM, on Twitter, or in our Facebook Community with your questions for our expert, Jessica Abo, who will be speaking all about hiding ‘likes’ this Thursday at 5pm EST on YouTube LIVE Make sure to tune in and we can't wait to hear from you!
