As Facebook recently confirmed to TechCrunch, the company is considering testing the removal of ‘Like’ counts, just as Instagram has already done in some markets. Over the past two months, Instagram has tested this approach in seven countries, including Canada and Brazil. The purpose announced by Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, is to focus on the content itself and address mental health concerns raised by sociologists about the use of social media platforms.

Numerous studies list Instagram and Facebook as directly responsible for low self-esteem and anxiety problems. Social media users keep scrolling and judging a perfect life full of filters presenting the characters under their best angles, in a cyber world where people turned into concept and brands, one can easily feel envious or jealous of those they follow.

“I think that it’s going to be a massive craze, since lots of ‘influencers’ were basing their whole life on the acceptance of strangers through likes,” said Andra Chirnogeanu, Marketing & Public Relations for Studio20, of the pending change. “As I’ve seen and surely most people have seen, we’ve gone a bit overboard with social media: Girl saying she’s nothing without her followers, girl suing Instagram for having money troubles after going on a trip she couldn’t afford just for likes, people expecting stuff for free, etc. Maybe it will balance things a bit, maybe it will make them go crazy, maybe it will make real content creators be even more creative. In any case, I believe it’s a good thing. It was going a bit crazy.”

In order to fight these ‘negativity boosters,’ people expect the platform owners to take measures to provide a safer environment for the users, especially the youngest members of the audience, so everyone can keep using those entertaining communication tools.

Leya Tanit, founder and president of adult industry mental health advocacy organization Pineapple Support, noted that social media “has become an all-encompassing part of the lives of many, particularly in the adult industry where business and self promotion depend on it.”

“The belief that popularity can be measured by the amount of followers a person has, or the amount of likes recurved on a post has become such an obsession,” Tanit said. “The mental health of a whole generation is suffering. It is wonderful to see that Instagram is acknowledging that there is a problem and taking steps to address the effect the pressures of popularity on social media can have. Removing the public ability to see the number of likes on a post should in theory reduce bullying and the self created pressure felt by so many. I will be very interested to see the results of the initial trial run and hope for a positive impact.”

By its very nature, Instagram is more visual than Facebook; the platform is clearly focused on images – and therefore, on appearance. Facebook, on the other hand, had been evolving in a different direction and seemed to be relegated to a place for users to share life events and milestones such as marriage, new job, major purchase or a significant lifestyle upgrade. This naturally leads people to compare their own achievements to their Facebook peers, which can easily turn to envy when people feel they don’t measure up to those peers.

Just like Instagram, Facebook is a gold mine for ads and Influencer marketing – tools that are directly linked to the number of likes and engagements a post can generate. The number of likes directly contributes to the “social proof score.”

Neuromarketing studies clearly show the impact of the social-tribal appropriation when it comes to the counts of likes and/or recommendations. Human beings tend to trust more or crave more intensely a specific item, service or way of life, if it gets social validation: If their posts get their peers’ approval, then it’s “cool.”

Award-winning adult performer Diego Sans said he thinks “people are paying too much attention to the ‘like’ count.”

“Newcomers aren’t less worthy than people with established accounts, but the likes create a dissociated scale, that is, in my opinion, not accurate,” Sans said. “I do understand that the likes are providing some kind of social validation and quality filters for some services that are advertising online, so I see the impact on the business side. With that being said, I think that mental health issues are more important than a ‘click.’ I see some people turning into digital prisoners, refreshing their pages every 2 seconds, jumping on their phone to check how many more likes they get. It’s wildly scary! Is this the new era?”

Sans added that from a business perspective, “for me at least, likes don’t mean much.”

“It’s important, but it isn’t everything,” Sans said. “It’s the interactions, the kind messages or constructive feedbacks you receive that truly show that your followers are participating. Even if it’s by saying ‘great shot,’ or even a simple emoji, or for example if the post is a flyer and the follower lets me know that he or she is coming to the event that was just announced – it shows that the person took some time to give you feedback, it shows that they care.”

Sans also noted that likes can be “faked through a bot” – which further calls into question the value of raw likes as a metric.

“Once again, it is nice to get a like; yes, but I start to wonder, what does it mean within the current society setup?” Sans added. “I try not to pay too much attention to it, which is bad in a certain way, because it is my work/business tool. But then again how much attention should I give it? It’s that thin line between being a prisoner and a free person.”

Priscila Magossi, ImLive Communication Scientist and author of The New Camming Perspective, said the move by Instagram to hide the likes count is a “strategic decision,” the company made because “influencers and different brands were taking more advantage (making more money) with the repercussion of the likes than the company itself.”

“From the human side, in psychological terms, this is a big game changer in social media consumption,” Magossi added, “since different studies point out Instagram as one of the main platforms responsible for the depression feelings growth among young people, especially women between 14-24 years old, due to the comparison based on the popularity status (likes and followers) within their social circles.”

In a nutshell, this new way Facebook and Instagram may display likes should contribute to a positive impact on the state of social media users’ mental health, but will impact marketing sales strategies, as well. By displaying fewer likes, social media platforms are reducing the power of influencers and users’ recommendations, tackling the fake-like bots and bringing back the focus on the content itself – and the focus on genuine human engagement.

Thumbs-up stock photo by J. Henning Buchholz from FreeImages