IS INSTAGRAM GETTING RID OF LIKES?

That’s the big question going around in the social media world in the last few days. Is INSTAGRAM getting rid of LIKES? Why is INSTAGRAM hiding likes?

The easy answer is: No, INSTAGRAM is not getting rid of LIKES. But, they are hiding the LIKE count from public view. 

That is leaving many wondering:

Is this going to be a good change? A bad change? Will engagement DROP on INSTAGRAM? Are LIKES very important to see? Let’s open up about this subject, as there seems to be a lot of attention surrounding it.

I am going to go into what LIKES are, why the change is being considered, and what the actual change is.

Read the whole article, and tell me your thoughts on this new change to this important platform.

The DOUBLE-TAP function has been a trademark of INSTAGRAM since the beginning. It’s simple, to like a post you double-dap the image as a sign of approval or support. It’s a simple and very easy way to engage with other accounts on Instagram.

It’s enjoyable to scroll through your feed and double-tap posts that you like. There has been a bit of drama in the headlines like ‘NO MORE LIKES ON INSTAGRAM’, but that just isn’t true. The double-tap function isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Continue to use it and let the people you support know that you’ve seen and appreciated their post!  

But here’s the thing, I don’t honestly feel like SEEING how many LIKES a post has encourages engagement on an INSTAGRAM post. In fact, I don’t know about you guys, but I hardly even notice the LIKE count when I am scrolling my Instagram feed.

I actually want to hear from you about this, leave a comment below and let me know if you like seeing the LIKE count as you scroll your Instagram feed or if you hardly even notice it.

That is where your VALUE comes into play. In fact, check out this video where I talk further on CONTENT CREATION https://urlgeni.us/youtube/QCW3

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I promise, hiding the likes or not, you will get more and more likes the better your content is. The more value you have to offer the more attention you will get. The higher the value the more double-taps you get! 

Okay, let’s take a look into what’s being said and what is actually happening with INSTAGRAM HIDING LIKES. 

First off, let’s clear the air, the change hasn’t FULLY happened yet. Instagram is just testing it out to see if the change will have a largely negative effect, not much of an effect at all, or if it’ll improve the engagement on the platform greatly.

From there, they will know if this change is needed or not to improve user experience. 

Only a few select areas have experienced the INSTAGRAM test, it started in Canada and has since made its way to the USA.

When you are done reading this blog, check out this article NPR put out where you can read what Instagram’s Adam Mosseri has to say about the change: https://www.npr.org/2019/11/09/777906177/instagram-will-test-hiding-likes-on-some-u-s-accounts-starting-next-week 

Okay guys, stay with me here, there seems to be a decent reason why this is happening. It’s not because there is some evil executive locked away in a dark office somewhere deciding to estrange all of INSTAGRAM’S users. 

Let’s address WHY Instagram is hiding likes. This is all part of a tactical plan to make INSTAGRAM SAFER. 

“We don’t want Instagram to be such a competition. We want it to be a place where people spend more of their energy CONNECTING with the people they love and the things that they care about.” – IG Chief Adam Mosseri

What does this mean? 

This means the effort to hide INSTAGRAM LIKES is to take the stress and pressure off of the person posting. Some get stressed out because their posts are not reflecting as many likes as the competition.

Some even feel like people are judging you for not having A LOT of likes. As if having fewer LIKES than other people makes you irrelevant. There are a lot of issues that INSTAGRAM wants to address with this new idea of hiding the LIKE count. 

Guys, look… if it’s really that important to you to see the LIKE COUNT of posts in your feed, you are too worried about the competition and not concerned enough about your own brand. Offer VALUE and help your audience, solve problems, but don’t compare your INSTAGRAM account to others, you will only feel greatly discouraged. 

As a marketer, you want to gauge engagement by likes, comments, saves, shares, and tags to see how well your content is performing. These parts of engagement allow you to see what content is WORKING and what content ISN’T WORKING.

You will still see the number of LIKES on your own post, but now it will serve mainly as a marketing tool. 

If this new change stays, and is a permanent feature within INSTAGRAM, keep its purpose in mind. The purpose is to make the platform a lot more friendly for everyone. There is no reason for it to disrupt your engagement or lower your LIKE count. Just keep posting like normal!

Actually, take this opportunity to post more and offer more value!

I guess you are wondering what I think of all of this? Well, to be honest, it doesn’t affect me. It doesn’t affect my purpose and my ability to GRAB ATTENTION. If you really look at it, it’s just such a small change. You may have never noticed. It doesn’t change the overall purpose of Instagram. 

If people are so bummed out by this change that there is a significant drop in the use of the platform I guarantee that Instagram will bring the feature back faster than a DOUBLE-TAP. That being said, I do not see this change will cause much of a drop in usage, in fact, it might even raise it? We shall see!

Don’t forget, leave a comment below, let me know what you think about this change!