Instagram is testing the option to hide “likes” to reduce social pressure (Illustration) – Jenny Kane / AP / SIPA
Like or not like ? Instagram has still not resolved the thorny issue of posting likes under photos and videos, linked to the potentially deleterious effects of users’ quest for validation on social networks.
After several tests where some people no longer saw the number of likes (“Likes”) collected by the contents, the popular Facebook application announced on Wednesday a new experiment, where users will decide for themselves what “works best” for them.
Mixed results in a test in 2019
They “will thus be able to decide to activate the option that suits them best, whether it is a question of choosing not to see the number of likes on the publications of others, to deactivate likes on its own publications or to keep the original experience ”, details a press release.
In 2019, Instagram hid the likes for a small group of people, but the results were mixed: some guinea pigs said they felt less pressure, but others missed the indicator, anxious to know what content is doing well and to identify popular trends.
“Instagram is not a competition”
Affected users could no longer see how many likes received other people’s posts. They still had access to the number of likes on their own posts, but by clicking on a different page. “We are doing this experiment because we want our users to focus on the photos and videos shared, not on the number of likes they collect, an Instagram spokesperson said in July 2019. We don’t want Instagram to look like a competition. “
A 2018 study conducted in the United States by the Pew Research Center showed that 72% of teens nationwide used Instagram and that nearly 40% of them felt compelled to only share content that gathered a lot of people. likes or comments.
“False bubble of perfection”
The frantic quest for likes “Locks teenagers in a false bubble of perfection” which sends them back the image that they are “not up to the task,” explained Michaël Stora, psychologist and president of the French Observatory of Digital Worlds, in October.
This new test, carried out at the global level, should make it possible to “understand if the fact of giving more control to each user, to build the experience which suits them, helps to reduce the pressure in a relevant way”, concludes Instagram.