Bye, Bye Instagram Likes…

November 20, 2019

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The Tides are Turning.

Nothing stays the same. Every day, everything around us is different than the day before. And, some things are good, while others aren’t so good. Like, when the sun comes out after a day of snow. That’s good. But, I didn’t remember to eat that ripe avocado yesterday, and today, well, you get the idea…

Today changes came with Instagram, a change that we knew was coming but what many (read: most) Instagrammers were hoping would never come. Likes have been a staple metric to show just how great your photography skills (or that of your professional photographer, like those at Gold Lens Media) are or how amazing your food is… the more the likes, the better you feel about yourself, right? Well, I know it’s not just about self-gratification, it’s also about how much more attractive your Instagram posts seem to be when they have 100 likes versus 10. And, it is believed that the more likes a post has, the more attention it will get. But, Instagram, in their ongoing research, found that there were some negatives around this too.

You see, it’s become a competition. And as Instagram CEO, Adam Mosseri, states, there needed to be some de-pressurization to make it a safer environment for the generation that uses it the most: Gen Z (those aged 24 and under).

WATCH: Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announces that the platform will start hiding likes for US audiences starting next week. It's the latest step in Instagram’s quest to become the safest place on the internet. https://t.co/BGkMG57rdk #WIRED25 pic.twitter.com/WNTyAPVhaD
— WIRED (@WIRED) November 9, 2019

Side Note: Per research compiled by Marketing Charts, while Instagram is very much a youth-oriented platform, it’s worth noting that more 30-49-year-olds say they use Instagram more than they use Pinterest, LinkedIn or Twitter. Interesting!

The Silver Lining

So, here’s the good news. You will still see how many likes you have received on a post (they are only hidden from the public) and from those numbers you will be able to determine, just as you are now, which posts are the top performers and which you could benefit from boosting or using in a seperate ad.

What this also means, is that incorporating Instagram (and Facebook) Stories into your social media mix is even more imperative to your success on social media. And, it’s also worth noting that Stories don’t have public facing metrics either (and they are going gangbusters!).

What do you think of this change? Has it hit your city yet? Let me know in the comment below.

Suzanne Hawken

Suzanne is the CEO of UpRight Avenue. Passionate to the core about everything social media and marketing, Suzanne has exclusively worked within the real estate industry since 2002 and within social media marketing for real estate brokers, agents and lenders since 2009. Suzanne was the Sr. Director of Social Media Marketing at realtor.com from 2013 through 2019 where she led a team of ten highly experienced social media marketers. Suzanne spends her free time downloading and listening to relevant podcasts and her nights watching videos of puppies.