SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram hides number of ‘likes’ on post to prevent low self esteem

Social media platform, Instagram is hiding ‘likes’ count in various countries such as Australia and Japan to “remove pressure” on users.

The trial which begins today, Thursdays, 18th July, will see ‘Instagrammers’ just seeing a user name and “others” liking the post rather than seeing a username and a particular number of people liking the post.

However, users can view the number of likes on their own post.

This step has been taken because, there have been concerns that social media platforms can contribute to low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy in the youth.

In May, Instagram launched a similar trial in Canada and the new test is rolling out in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Brazil, the company told the media.

Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook, Inc. It was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and launched in October 2010 exclusively on iOS.