Why Removing Instagram Likes Isn’t an Instant Solution

Instagram has been toying with the idea of removing likes for quite some time now, experimenting with updates in countries such as Canada and Australia. They designed the app to hide “like” counts, making them only visible to the owner themselves. CEO Adam Mosseri recently deemed it prudent to institute this change worldwide, including in the United States. 

Instagram tweeted that the revision would allow users to “ focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get.” Their statement attempts to address concerns that users and experts have expressed.

Experts have been in constant debate over whether the app’s basic premise negatively affects the mental health of its users. Instagram’s basic model is one that appeals to our sense of vanity; it distorts users’ sense of reality and allows them to cherry-pick picturesque moments in order to construct seemingly flawless feeds for the viewing pleasures of others. These criticisms have become increasingly prevalent since Instagram’s conception.

At its core, Instagram systematically fulfills our most shallow desires, something it has done all too well over the near-decade since it was first released. It has gained massive popularity, with over 1 billion people using the platform to broadcast their perfectly crafted posts to their followers, who internalize feelings of envy, narcissism, and self-loathing. The reality being communicated on Instagram is not what anyone experiences in real life. Instagram has created a headspace of false authenticity, offering a neverending feed of others’ “best hits” for one to compare themselves to. 

Mosseri said hiding likes could reduce anxiety and stress, although it is questionable whether Instagram’s true intent lies in the interest of users. As Ofir Turel, an associate professor of information systems and decision sciences at California State University, Fullerton, Instagram could be attempting to deflect intense scrutiny. A lack of true desire to help users suggests the revision will not truly resolve the app’s negative consequences, as the general premise of the app is grounded in portraying false realities. All subsequent revisions will continue to reproduce the consequences it conveniently resolves.

by AANYA GHOST

Although comparing likes may be a source of negativity for some, this step will not serve as Instagram’s quick fix to many of the problems that will continue to plague anyone who uses the app. Users can still stress about follow counts, how their pictures compare to others, or if they look better with a filter. While undoubtedly a well-intentioned move, it is far from what is needed to solve a much bigger problem not relevant to solely Instagram, but media platforms at large, and if the issues plaguing them can even be solved.