If you are social media freak, then probably “like” on the post are the gentle tortures that may stress you out. However, people with the highest likes, whether they've something inspirational to share or non-inspirational.
Looking at the stress for increasing the number of likes, Instagram is all set to shut down the "like" system. In May 2019, Facebook announced that Instagram is on like-hidden testing mode across six different countries, which are as follows:
1. Brazil
2. Canada
3. Australia
4. Italy
5. Ireland
6. New Zealand
Before hiding likes ultimately, facebook wants to see the reaction and results of the test. With the emergence of Instagram, marketing through influencers became a common phenomenon. Many brands approach them to promote their products. Presently, you would find millions of beauty, fitness, or fashion bloggers overflowing on this social platform. These approaches were based on the number of likes because vanity metrics like "likes "is the only source of profoundly understanding the customer engagement of that particular influencer. This announcement has majorly impacted the influencers even though the followers and following section will remain as it is.
What is the aim of Instagram behind the hiding likes?
As you know, the testing is already in process, the head of Instagram Adam Mosseri reported that this update would create a "less pressurised environment." According to the team of Instagram, whenever an individual see the post of any Instagram influencer or celebrity or fashion bloggers with millions of likes and followers, it overpowers them. A few people said that when they don't receive minimum likes on their posts, they delete the post from the feed due to embarrassment. Isn't it strange and unfair?
At the Facebook Annual Conference, Mark Zuckerberg explained the concept entirely. As per reports, he said that once you scroll through the feed, only you can see the number of people viewed your post or liked, but not others.
How will hiding-likes impact the influencers?
The introduction of this will not affect regular users, but to the influencers, especially, the full-time influencers who have invested their time enhancing their followers and like to showcase their credibility. Nevertheless, Instagram aims to reduce the competition in the market, but what about full-time marketing influencers, they will eventually suffer a lot as compared to others.
Marketing experts have been discussing this change and the way it could route the brands to mostly adding stories of their products on Instagram. Marketers also took into consideration the number of followers will not be hidden, but in the case of Instagram influencers, these are mere numbers. It can never outweigh the number of likes every post boasts of these influencers. Are you an influencer and this announcement is haunting you? No need to worry! There are many alternatives as well to keep track of your metrics on Instagram, such as social media monitoring software. These tools can immensely help you to keep a hawk-eye on your performance and post engagement.
How can hide-like prove to be fruitful for influencers?
When your viewers couldn't see post likes, that means there would be nothing as "trending post." This will eventually allow Instagram influencers to be more authentic with regards to their content. You can put forth your creativity without feeling the stress of "trending," which will motivate you to deliver some inspiring content to your followers.
It will also relieve the stress of noting the time when you should post photos or videos for maximum engagement. There would be no more peak time, and everything would be so seamless and relaxing. Besides, the purchases of likes will slowly decline which is a good way to decrease fake followers. With time, brands will soon overlook the number of likes and followers. They would be more focused on real engagement by analysing the clicks on the post as well as on call-to-action. This comes as an opportunity for serious influencers, as they will now focus on the quality content and look at running lead, signup. sales related influencer campaigns for brands. With the eradication of likes, brands can carefully take a look at what's working for them, be it in terms of content or photos, etc.
Take a deep breath and relax!
it's time for influencers to rethink about their content value and keep producing engaging content. The concept is still on trial, nothing has been finalised yet. Most probably, the beta test will surely open doors of opportunities and change the landscape of approaches between influencers and brands.
Positively, this move by Instagram will prove to be beneficial for regular users. And influencers shouldn't feel like it's a nightmare, you can still convince the users, but in the more authentic and real way. Don't stress yourself!
