The possibility of Instagram removing the “likes” feature to “improve the emotional and mental health of users,” have been stated by the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, for a few years now but became true for some users on March 2, as Instagram accidentally added more users than intended to test out the feature.
Some users were alarmed by the unexpected update and expressed their frustrations, but Mosseri quickly apologized on Twitter and said, “We unintentionally launched our test to hide likes to more people today. Our apologies.”
Improving the emotional and mental health of users has been a goal for Mosseri with Instagram as he explained in an interview with WIRED magazine in 2019.
Validation from others is a common emotional and mental problem users face on Instagram. Recent CSULB graduate, Miguel Martinez, has dealt with these issues in the past.
“It’s easy to gain insecurities by looking at people with a lavish lifestyle, but the problem is that it’s more often fabricated than it’s not. Getting rid of the likes is the right step into (a positive) direction,” said Martinez.
According to Long Beach City College sociology professor, Karyn Daniels, the problem lies with entertainment being on demand now and the rush of dopamine that results from it.
Professor Daniels said, “Our brains crave novelty but we used to have to work for that novelty like reading, or thinking of something … Now you can scroll through pictures and begin to develop a dopamine addiction from that.”
Instagram and social media have changed the way we socially interact and while there are some benefits to it there are negative aspects as well.
Nick Carbonaro, a digital and social media professor at LBCC, believes Instagram is a double edged sword when it comes down to socially interacting with each other.
Carbonaro said, “(Instagram) does have a good aspect to it … You can tailor your feed to what you want to see and it’s direct to consumers.”
Instagram incorporated hashtags to the platform and it helps users find content relevant to the tags.
“There’s also a negative aspect … because you’re so highly tuned to your stuff you don’t know what’s going on in the outside world,” Carbonero said.
Instagram has shifted the way we socially interact with each other and last year the app reached one billion global users. With changes slowly being introduced and the app constantly evolving, mental health is a frequent problem within the app that should be acknowledged.