Coffee Chats : Instagram Like Removal

by - Monday, May 06, 2019

Instagram Like Removal

Hello there everyone! I thought I'd start a new lil blog on going series. Calling it Coffee Chats because I am literally going to sit down have a cup of coffee and chat about what ever topic we want to talk about.

So I was just doing my morning Instagram work while having my cup of coffee and was noticing everyone talking about the removal of likes. If you don't know anything about what I am talking about let me fill you in.

What's Happening?

Instagram is in the process of testing the removal of likes in Canada and this is expected to make its way to everyone and eventually become the new normal thing for Instagram. The reasoning behind the removal of likes is to help peoples mental health. Which is a great thing, its great to see mental health being talked about more in the world, its become common for people to talk about it publicly and I think that is great step, because its really important we all be mindful of each others, and realize that things are not what they look like. Meaning you can always tell someone is having issues, because we can't see what's going on inside which is why we all need to really think before we speak, and think about how what we do affects others.

While this is getting rid of likes, I want to add that YOU as an account will still be able to see how many likes you get on an image. You just won't be able to see others when scrolling through feeds.

Is this a good thing?

Honestly I don't know, I see both pros and cons. I think for some it will help their mental health, but for other things I think this can be a drawback. The one thing that seems a bit flawed in this whole change is... You still see how many likes you get. Which I do want, but it doesn't really match up with their overall goal of helping mental health, unless they say you then can't compare with others by saying "insert name here" got more likes than me.

The Value of Likes

I started Instagram in 2012 and the value of likes were completely different then. There was no algorithm, there were no stories, things on Instagram were just all around different. I think many get caught up in thinking the amount of likes you get on an image mean something bigger. This can be different for everyone. Having a lot of likes on an image now doesn't mean anything major. It really just means you got lucky, you must have posted at the correct time, had good engagement in the first hour, and actually had your post be put in your followers feeds. Whereas that doesn't mean a post with a much smaller amount of likes is inferior, it may just mean that post wasn't posted at the optimum time, it didn't gain enough engagement in the first hour. When it comes down to it the algorithm has devalued likes.  Some don't see it that way, and let that small number get to them, which is sad, and why Instagram is trying to get rid of likes. However we are still going to be able to see the likes our images gain so that part seems a lil counterintuitive.

My Thoughts

So I just chatted a bit on Instagram about this, and realized wow I could talk a lot more about this and needed more space to do so, hence this post.

For my personal Instagram I don't mind the removal of likes at all. No gain, no loss in my opinion. I just share photos I like there and use it more of a personal lil library. I love looking back on those photos and seeing things I've done, places I've been, and just life beyond my blog. Likes mean nothing, I'm not trying to turn that account into anything, its just fun and likes mean nothing to me on it.

Now on my business/creator accounts I do care a bit more, but lets not take that the wrong way. I don't feel the need to to gain hundreds or thoughts of likes. Would that be nice? Sure but a small number of likes is not going to make me feel bad about my content. It just means it didn't get great engagement in the first hour. Now I realize some can have a harder time realizing this, and it can be hard to realize. I'm not sure how I got to that point of realizing that actually, I guess because I don't just post on Instagram exclusively so I can see those same things do really well on other platforms and know that its literally because of the platform, not the content. Sure I get a lil in my head at times and get fed up with it all, but when it comes down to it I still enjoy it so I just have to take a lil step back at the point and become re-inspired.

I will miss seeing the likes on other accounts. I know that sounds a bit weird but I do enjoy seeing those, I can see what others are really interested in and also it can help me to try something new. Meaning maybe I've had an idea that I've wanted to do but I'm just not sure about it, but then I see someone else give it a go and if I were to see someone else getting a good response it could be the last lil push to go ahead with the idea. Odd? Sure but oh well! Also since I do a lot with colors its nice to see what others are liking color wise, granted at the same time I know likes aren't a true representation of people's likes sooo, who knows maybe I won't really miss it at all.

I have noticed some talking and worrying about how this can hurt content creators/influencers and I can totally see the concerns and have some as well. However when I see brand collabs/offers and such I've not really seen many liked based. Not saying there aren't, but I haven't seen them. 4 or so years ago, absolutely, but in the past few years they are engagement based, and while likes are in that realm they want more authentic interactions from what I have seen. They want comments, conversation and more interactions rather than likes. Follower numbers aren't even that important anymore. There are still some that have thresholds based upon follower amount, *cough cough* Instagram *cough cough* swipe up feature, but You can have 15K of followers, and someone with 3K followers can have better engagement with the algorithms. I can almost promise you that that person with 15K followers are not having 15K people actually see their posts, matter of fact, its possible for the person with 3K followers to have the same engagement if not better. Why? The algorithm. It's so weird, and annoying. So basically like numbers and follower numbers don't matter in the 2019 world of Instagram.

Its so hard to say what works in Instagram anymore. I see some accounts with hundred of followers, get lots of likes, and zero comments. Then others with a small amount of followers get lotsa of likes, and lotsa comments so that just goes to show these numbers we all based Instagram success on are kinda moo, ya know like a cows opinion, it doesn't matter as said by Joey. :)

That All Being Said....

If you want someone to do well on Instagram, and or you want to see their posts in your feed its important to; like their images, comment, start a conversation in stories/on a post, interact on their stories when they do polls.

If we all try to so these things like we did on the old Instagram maybe it will help, maybe it won't. With the addition of stories, I think it's very important to utilize that tool. I think more people watch stories than they scroll through their feed! Im probably guilty of that too, it seems to actually show everyone I follow in stories, and I end up finding out about new posts more so that way. Anywhooo at this point it's all one of those catch 22 scenarios.

What do you guys think? Thoughts on the like removal, pros cons? Or anything you want to talk about with Instagram in general? Its been nice having this lil different chat here, hope you enjoyed it too! I could go on and talk about so many other parts of this subject so this was my attempt at keeping it short! Ha, we can talk about those other things another day!

Talk to You Soon!

~25 Sweetpeas

Instagram Like Removal

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