Instagram is making some changes aimed at improving the mental health of their users, although some users aren’t too happy about it. The company just launched a trial study in which they are hiding the number of "likes" a person gets on a post.
The social media site first ran this test in Canada earlier year, and now they are expending it to several more countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Brazil.
The move comes amid suggestions that trolling for likes leads to people with self-esteem issues. By removing the likes, the site is hoping it will encourage folks to “focus on sharing the things you love" instead of posting content they think other people would like.Mia Garlick,Facebook Australia and New Zealand's director of policy (Facebook owns Instagram), notes that the goal of this move is to see “whether this change can help people focus less on likes and more on telling their story"
And while some folks on social media are not happy about the chamge, Instagram is getting some positive feedback on the move. “I love the idea!,” one person wrote. “It's healthy esp. for the younger generation who mostly thinks that their worth depends on the amount of likes they get. And sometimes do stupid things just to get stupid likes.”
Check out some other reactions (good and bad) below: