Facebook and Instagram "Like" Removal and Its Impact on Marketers
Posted: October 29, 2019
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Brands know that Facebook and Instagram "likes" and reactions are an important part of measuring engagement. Unfortunately, those platforms have been testing new interfaces that will no longer allow users to see the interaction numbers of others. You'll still be able to see the numbers on your own posts, but not those of your competitors. Influencers and marketers will need to employ some different strategies to help offset the potential negative impact this change might have.
Pamela Bump, Staff Writer for HubSpot, explains the possible changes and how you can understand, and plan for, the potential challenges it could present.
For the past few months, Instagram has been testing a new
app design that removes total Like and view counts from posts in its News Feed and on profile pages.
Although Instagram's parent company Facebook hasn't yet revealed any details about the experiment's results, the test has
expanded to seven countries and
reps recently confirmed that they're weighing change that would remove Like, view, and reaction counts on Facebook's platform as well.
Throughout the
experiment, Instagram has been replacing total Like and view counts with a list of two to three handles of people who liked the post. Users are still able to privately see the total number of Likes and view counts on their own posts, but they can't see the Likes and views on others' posts.
Both Facebook and Instagram say that the goal of this change would be to make users feel less insecure about their own content or profile. The social companies have suggested that this removal could prevent users from comparing their posts to others or
deleting posts that get fewer reactions.
At Facebook's
annual F8 summit, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri explained, "We want people to worry a little bit less about how many Likes they’re getting on Instagram and spend a bit more time connecting with the people that they care about.”
Read the entire article,
Facebook and Instagram Might Remove Like Counts: What This Means for Marketers, on
HubSpot.