One of the main social media platforms is rolling out big changes in the next week, as the metrics of Instagram are going to soon look very different to the public.

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, said at a Wired event that the platform would be testing out an end to the “like” feature.

And what about the other social platforms?

Facebook which owns Instagram, has started tests to hide public “like” counts. Twitter is working to engage users in more positive and less bully-type behavior.

The purpose behind this?

For the mental health and well-being of the users. Mosseri and others worry there is too much emphasis on the number of likes and engagement statistics nowadays.

Dismissal of the “like” button will refocus users of social media on its initial purpose, to share pure and creative content in a welcoming environment. With the pressure of open-faced analytics removed, the hope is that users will feel more genuine about what they post and generate more positive feelings towards social media.

How this change will affect businesses that rely on the analytics and engagement numbers of social media remains to be seen. Howard Mittman, CEO of Bleacher report said “Likes are only a small portion of how we evaluate and track engagement across our social handles.” However, for small less powerful businesses, it might be a greater area of concern.

Sources:

https://www.axios.com/turning-point-online-mental-health-bc1d5fd1-c637-43e1-b4b1-e7cb02d674cb.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-removing-likes-what-it-will-look-like-2019-11