Instagram will soon begin to remove how many people are liking your photos and who is liking your photos. Typically, on Instagram you can view how many likes someone receives and what exact followers liked the photo but, the company is doing away with this feature for mental health purposes. Users will still be able to see who likes their pictures but the information will be private from everyone else. Recently the company also removed the “following activity” tab which allows users more privacy as well. Famous celebrity, Kim Kardashian also agrees that for the sake of mental health this feature should be removed. ABC states that many anxiety issues have stemmed back to Instagram’s platform. The Head of Instagram also believes that many of the platform’s younger users, “experience bullying and a sense of unnecessary competition because of the likes.” So, the new outlook for Instagram he says is to, “…Make it less of a competition and give people more space to focus on connecting with people that they love, things that inspire them.” The removal of “likes” has already been tested in other countries such as Canada and Japan providing feedback on potential outcomes for removal in the U.S. The company is aware of how this may slightly affect branding with other companies but they are focused on mental health first.

I think this is a really important subject, although it may seem insignificant. I’m curious to know if Facebook or Twitter will take part in this action as well. 

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/instagram-likes-disappearing-photos-videos-us/story?id=66878288