Instagram is testing out the removal of the Like Count from posts in certain regions

Instagram is set to test out the removal of the LIKE count underneath your Instagram posts. The total number of Likes will display to you but not be displayed to the public. Instead of seeing the total likes on your post, the section will display LIKED BY XXXXXX and others.

Instagram is doing this to help with the wellbeing of it’s users. There are many reports and stories of individuals posting picture sof themselves and if the photo does not receive a high number of Likes in a short amount of time the users delte the photos as not to appear “ugly” or that their content is not engaging. Since the platform currently shows the amount of total likes on a post, it really does appear to be a Vanity Metric where the only person that Truly cares about the total is the individual that posts the photo/video.

There are times where the total number of Likes on a photo/video is very important and that is how many Likes do Influencers receive on their posts as many of them are paid per post based on how many impressions and Likes they receive. Another situation where seeing the amount of Likes is important is when you, the consumer are looking at an item and you would like to know if others are interested in that item or if you are looking to go to the next “happening” nightspot or restaurant and you want to see if others also think the location is exciting or if they are going.

To the everyday person that is posting to Instagram this should not be a very significant change or issue. If you are not basing your life around how many Likes your video or photo receive then you may not even notice this change that is currently in beta.

Do you care about how many LIKES your post gets? Is this something critical to your postings?