Instagram no longer shows likes in six countries
Effective immediately, the social media platform Instagram is hiding the "Like" counts under users' photos in six countries, including Italy, Japan, and Australia.
The company said it wanted to take the pressure off its users to achieve as many "likes" as possible. This was in response to accusations that online networks are detrimental to mental health.
For the time being, users will no longer be able to see how many likes a photo has received on another account. However, the number of likes on one's own profile is still visible.
The effort is about getting people to focus on "sharing the things they love," explained a company executive in Australia and New Zealand. "We don't want it to seem like there's competition on Instagram," she added.
The group did not disclose how long the test phase will last. The measurement tools that companies use to measure the reach of their advertising on Instagram are not affected by the change.
A week ago, Instagram announced its intention to combat hate comments with the help of artificial intelligence. In recent years, studies on the influence of online networks had shown that Instagram can have a negative effect on the mental health of its users.
A 2018 U.S. study by the Pew Research Center found that nearly 40 percent of teens on Instagram pressured themselves to only post content that they expected to get as many reactions as possible.(sda)
