Instagram Will Stop Showing How Many Likes You Get On Your Posts
Independent- Instagram is going to stop showing how many people have liked some of its users posts.
The major change is an attempt to make the app a more healthy place to be, by allowing people to focus on the posts being shared rather than how much engagement they have gathered.
Initially, the feature will be launched with some users in Canada. But it could eventually roll out to all users, leaving them unable to see how many likes their posts get.
People will still be able to see when someone likes their posts, and clicking through will show everyone who has done so. But the only way to find out how many of them there are would be manually counting up, since Instagram will no longer show the big number next to the post.
Yeah, that’ll make a difference. That will stop teenagers from killing themselves because their classmates invalidated their existence through a low like count. The fuck? Get real.
The moment this headline ran, app developers cleared their desks and started coding up an app to count your likes. And if, somehow, Facebook manages to lock out all third-party counting apps, people will go through and count their likes by hand. Absolutely! This move will actually increase how much time we spend on the app (which is their ultimate, evil goal), counting their fucking likes like a pile of beans and checking to make sure their friends have done their like duty.
Do you know how petty we are on Instagram? Christ, back when I was a normal instagram user, I downloaded an app that would tell me who of my followers had unfollowed me, or didn’t follow me back. In the days of triple-digit followers, I couldn’t afford to be tossing out unrequited follows unless they were super famous. Humbly, I understand that Lebron isn’t going to follow me back. But Dave Kohn, hacky comic who looks like shit in a bathing suit and posts landscape photos of serene bodies of water interspersed with grainy clips of bad jokes? Who the fuck do you think you are, chunt (that’s chump and cunt together)? I followed you, you better follow me, because I’m ahead of you in this world and that’s how the arrangement works.
Of course they’re testing it in Canada. Wonder how they’ll take it up there. “Ya don’t need likes, ya just need friends!” Taking away a misery-driving feature in the happiest country on earth. What a ground-breaking, risk-taking move, Zuck!
PS- the article goes on to say that “influencers” are worried because likes are an important metric for them to show potential advertisers. But any real influencer knows that comments and views are far more important in terms of engagement. Fuck those phony influencers.