On November 14, Instagram tweeted they would start their recently announced change to their app regarding likes being hidden.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, has kept the public updated with the change. “Today a small portion of people on Instagram worldwide will no longer be able to see the number of likes other people’s photos get,” Mosseri tweeted.
Mosseri said the hope of this test is to better understand how the public feels about Instagram as a platform.
So, how does this affect Instagram users, specifically those like influencers, small businesses and the average person that simply uses the app?
Shea Leigh Mills, a fashion influencer who has almost 250,000 Instagram followers knows the change will be okay from a business perspective but from a consumer perspective will be risky.
“Business wise, our demographics and analytics will still be sent to the companies that work with us, so that is a good thing,” Mills said. “Popularity wise, it is sort of hit or miss because you’re not able to see how other influencers are doing in comparison to yourself.”
Like influencers, Instagrams for businesses will be affected.
Ribbon Chix, a popular women’s boutique in Murray and Paducah, has almost 19,000 followers on Instagram and keeps growing.
Whitney Gardner, Ribbon Chix marketing coordinator, doesn’t like the new changes.
“The Ribbon Chix team feels like it takes away our engagement,” Gardner said. “When our posts get a large number of likes, it grabs people’s attention, invoking them to check out what we are selling.”
Gardner said she hopes Instagram will either stop the change or eventually reverse its decision.
Influencers and businesses are viewing this change through a professional lens. On the other hand, regular app users see this change differently.
Allie Morgan, a student at Murray State, says she is indifferent about the Instagram likes.
“I personally don’t care either way I guess,” Morgan said. “I just know I have been hearing of people becoming very self conscious and anxious when it comes to how many Instagram likes they get or don’t get.”
Morgan said if she had to choose whether to keep the likes or not, she would probably keep them.
“The one thing that concerns me is how business are going to grow if other people can’t see if others like their social media accounts,” Morgan said.
With professionals who use Instagram for business expressing concern with the changes, it will be interesting to see if this changes how the world consumes social media.