Instagram removes likes

Instagram has started to hide the number of likes and views content receives on it’s platforms in selected countries. What does this all mean? Will the app suffer or will it improve? Will this mean that posting will be more about the quality of content and less about the competitiveness of how many likes a post receives?

What does this mean for influencers? How will they react to this and will their quality of posting change?

We definitely feel that there will be more of a focus put on the number of comments. This can be a better measure of engagement, the more comments on a post, the more likely someone is to comment. This however raises the question, now that likes can’t be seen. Will less users choose to like as they feel it isn’t no longer as important as it once was. Will engagement therefore see a drop in posts. Will comments spike and likes drop?

Another big question is that Instagram has been pushing away from organic growth for quite some time. Forcing users and brands to pay for advertising through their platform to gain any kind of reach. Is Instagram sick of influencers making money off their app and not receiving any commission with these brand deals that they make? Are they trying to push these people out so they can make more through Instagram advertising?

So many questions and it’s truly hard to tell how this will all play out. The next few weeks and months will be crucial to seeing what comes from it all.

Will Instagram choose to keep this new update or will they have to much backlash from large accounts and brands, forcing them to go back to the old.

Only time will tell!